Dueling for Da'wa: State vs. society on the Saudi internet

This article examines Saudi Arabia's introduction of the Internet, and the manner in which the Kingdom has sought to balance the communications, business, and economic advantages of the Information Revolution with the country's conservative form of Islam. The article also examines the use of the Internet by the Saudi opposition abroad and the government's efforts to filter these sites and other sites the government deems objectionable. Thus the government seeks to use the Internet for modernization and business uses, but to prevent globalization from affecting the traditional mores of the Kingdom. Despite efforts at centralization and control, the nature of the Internet has meant that control is not absolute.