Al-Arabia TV examines banning camera phones

Al-Arabia TV featured a program with one resident of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and three residents of Saudi Arabia who discussed whether the ban of camera phones was a good idea, according to an article in Arab News. The bottom line is some of the guests thought there shouldn't be bans and some thought there should be.

I almost finished a long entry about the article, but pressed the wrong button on my computer and deleted it. So, read the article yourself! It's interesting.

As I've written previously, Saudi Arabia has banned camera phones and is attempting to crack down on what appears to be a thriving black market for the handsets.

Divergent views

One view expressed on the TV program was that although camera phones cause concerns, there are ways to deal with problems through regulations, policies and education.

One guest said when cellular phones were about to be introduced in Saudi Arabia there were concerns, but not many people, including students in elementary school, have phones.

The conservative view was that although banning camera phones might violate individual rights, it's appropriate to ban them because of the difficulty of enforcing regulations combined with the strong traditions in Saudi Arabia.

Reporter's position

The reporter, Raid Qusti, writes that camera phones will be everywhere, especially when most phones will include cameras. The solution is to enact appropriate laws and policies to deal with the devices.

Qusti writes, "We have to realize that we cannot go against the tide. But we can learn to go around it. One positive solution I have seen is that some wedding halls have female security personnel who check bags and confiscate visitors’ camera phones at the door.

"The visitor is given a number and can retrieve her phone when she leaves. That puts a stop to misuse of the phones. " That's an interesting concept that highlights the conservative nature of Saudi Arabia. In just about every other country, weddings are a prime occasion for taking camera phone photos!

Healthy debate

The fact that camera phone issues are being debated in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Arab world is healthy.

Comments

[jacfa shimali]

please i wanna got the url