"Just Add Me": Saudi Information Minister Embraces Social Networking

I couldn't help coming up with the slogan: "Twitter... Don't start a revolution without it!", as I saw the vital role social networking sites played in covering the recent protest against the latest Presidential election results in Iran.

Having said that, I knew it was only a matter of time before the Islamic Republic would find a way to censor Twitter and other sites such as YouTube and Facebook (if they weren't blocked in the first place that is), along with satellite television and radio as part of its disinformation strategy, something which didn't take too long to occur.

However, while the whole world's attention was focused on the developing story in Tehran, a 'revolution' of another type was occurring in the nearby Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Journalists on the popular social networking site, Facebook, were amazed by the sudden appearance of a new 'friend' by the name of 'Aziz Khoja', who turned out to be non-other than the newly appointed Saudi Information Minister, Abdulaziz Khoja.

(Khoja's Facebook page)

Now, this is considered a revolution because like many other Middle Eastern countries, a typical Saudi information minister would usually seek to block or censor these types of networks where information could flow freely, rather than joining them.

Censorship, particulary on internet sites, is tradionaly heavily practiced in Saudi Arabia, and The Kingdom was ranked 148th out of 169 countries in the world press freedom index issued by 'Reporters Without Borders' in October 2008.

However, ever since his appointment by Royal Decree last February, Khoja -a former Saudi Ambassador to Turkey, Russia, Morocco and Lebanon (consecutively) and a public figure who enjoys a high popularity among many Saudis particularly because of his long lasting interest and involvement in the cultural, poetry and literature scenes, has been praised by a growing number of journalists.

The surge in the number of the Minister's Facebook 'friends' was the ultimate proof of his popularity, he had 77 friends when I first saw his page a few days after it was launched last month... he now has about 2000, of which journalists form a majority.

The Information Minister's social networking abilities proved essential 2 weeks ago, when a massive fire destroyed a transmission center belonging to Saudi Television in the Holy City of Mecca.

Khoja immediately released his first online announcement on his Facebook 'Status' in response to the many media requests about the incident.

He described the incident as "sad" as he reassured readers that there were "no human causalities which was the most important thing", and adding in a rather unusual twist to Arab officials' statements "We will work hard so that this doesn't happen again".

Information Minister Khoja also gives interviews via his Facebook page, I got in touch with him upon his registration to the social networking site as I wanted to examine if he would get back to my inquiry and how long would it take him to do so. I had asked him why he decided to join Facebook, and to my surprise, he replied on the same day.

The Minister said, "I felt the need to reach out to the young generation and to speak the same language they do", adding that he also believes that it is his responsibility to be close and helpful to all people. "Since we live in the age of communication I felt the need to cope with all the technological advancement, and finally King Abdullah orders us to serve the people in every way possible", Khoja explained.

(Khoja in a private gathering with a number of prominent Saudi journalists)

Yasser Al Ghaslan -- founder of the recently launched specialized media site, The Media Note, wrote an article wondering if it was Mr. Khoja himself that was actually running his Facebook page or not. He was positively surprised when he received an official confirmation from the Saudi Information Ministry, "it is a sign that the Ministry is finally taking websites and bloggers seriously", said Al Ghaslan.

Another example is the 'lifting' of the ban which was imposed on the London-based Arab online newspaper, Elaph, which is owned by the renowned Saudi publisher, Othman Al Omair.

"This was a positive step", says Saudi business journalist Jamal Banoon, who elaborates that Mr. Khoja has also loosened up the issuing of licenses for local private TV and radio channels.
Banoon says he often chats to the information minister online, and whereas most of the time they talk about culture and poetry, he says it is a remarkable change from the stereotypical image of Arab officials who are almost always impossible to reach.

Omar al Mudwahi, assistant editor of the leading Saudi daily Al Watan, confirms Banoon's statements by saying that though he (al Mudwahi) had been a journalist for 20 years, he never got a chance to meet a Saudi information minister in private, something which Mr. Khoja managed to grant al Mudwahi and many other Saudi journalists in just 5 months.

Other 'virtually-active' Arab leading figures include Queen Rania of Jordan who made headlines last year with her stereotype-busting YouTube page, and Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashed of Dubai, UAE. Abdulaziz Khoja is the first ever Saudi Information Minister to embrace such activities, never before has an official of this rank been so accessible.

Follow Faisal J. Abbas on Twitter: www.twitter.com/faisal_abbas