Political online communities in Saudi Arabia: the major players
| Published date | 27 June 2008 |
| Pages | 127-140 |
| Date | 27 June 2008 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14779960810888329 |
| Author | Yeslam Al‐Saggaf,Kenneth Einar Himma,Radwan Kharabsheh |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Political online communities
in Saudi Arabia: the major players
Yeslam Al-Saggaf
School of Computing and Mathematics and Centre for Applied Philosophy and
Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia
Kenneth Einar Himma
Department of Philosophy, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, Washington, USA, and
Radwan Kharabsheh
Department of Business Administration, The Hashemite University,
Al-Zarqa, Jordan
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the major players operating on Al-Saha Al-Siyasia
online community, which is by far the most widely spread political online community in Saudi Arabia
receiving 20 million page views per month.
Design/methodology/approach – In addition to using “focused” silent observation to observe
Al-Saha Al-Siyasia over a period of three months (May-July 2007) and thematic content analysis to
examine 2,000 topics (and their replies) posted to Al-Saha Al-Siyasia during the period of May-June
2007, semi-structured interviews were conducted (in Arabic) with 15 key informants to report their
perceptions regarding Islamic fundamentalists, extremists and liberals, etc. on their forum.
Findings – The results of this study indicate that there are three main players operating in Al-Saha
Al-Siyasia: Islamic fundamentalists, extremists, and liberals. Islamic fundamentalists who are the vast
majority on this community use the forum as a medium to promote their image and defend their way
of practising the religion. Extremists on the other hand, although their numbers in the forum are very
small, use the forum as a medium to establish their credibility and the grounds for their actions.
Finally, the liberals use the forum to communicate with the public, and advocate their plans for social
reform, invite people to adopt a less strict version of Islam and adopt secularism as a way of life.
Originality/value – This paper continues the first comprehensive descriptive study of the size and
influence of the Islamic fundamentalists, extremists, and liberals in their activities as online
communities.
Keywords Internet, SaudiArabia, Politics, Islam, Religiousfundamentalism, Censorship
Paper type Research paper
1. Background
Saudi Arabia is the custodian of the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina, where Islam
emerged, and one of the richest countries in the world because of its large reserves of oil.
In consequence, Saudi Arabia has a strong position in the Arab world that enables it to
play a leading role in the politics of the region. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy
with a population, according to a latest survey, of 27,601,038 including 5,576,076
non-nationals. The population is predominantly Arab who strictly adheres to Islam.
The version of Islam practised in Saudi Arabia is often called “Wahhabism” (Kouri,
2006) or Islamic fundamentalism (Teitelbaum, 2000). The primary doctrine of
Wahhabism is Tawhid, or the uniqueness and unity of God. The “Wahhabi” movement
emerged as an effort to remove from Islam what Abd al-Wahhab, founder of
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1477-996X.htm
Political online
communities
in Saudi Arabia
127
Journal of Information,
Communication & Ethics in Society
Vol. 6 No. 2, 2008
pp. 127-140
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/14779960810888329
To continue reading
Request your trial