Saudi Arabia is looking to crack down on atheist bloggers, threatening freedom of conscience and expression.

http://gulfnews.com/

Saudi Arabia’s Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has asked the interior ministry to arrest several people for apostasy and atheism.

The commission did not divulge the number of people whose arrest it requested, but it said that they insulted God and Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

It added in a report about its work and achievements that it was coordinating closely with the telecommunication and information technology commission to block and shut down pornographic sites as well as sites that promote apostasy and atheism.

“This coordination has led to shutting down several sites for violating rules and regulations,” it said, quoted by local daily Makkah on Sunday.

Violations also included the use of misleading mobile and computer applications and erroneous electronic versions of the Quran.

The commission added that it had set up a special unit to fight cybercrimes and that it was working on enhancing its capabilities through regional offices.

In its report, the commission said that it received 9,341 complaints about pornographic sites in one year. It also received 2,734 reports about sites that promoted atheism and misleading information about religion and 132 reports about cyber blackmailing.