Saudi authorities pressure Snapchat to block Al-Jazeera

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Snapchat has blocked Al-Jazeera’s Discover channel in Saudi Arabia amid an ongoing dispute between Gulf states and Qatar, where the media network is headquartered.

Al-Jazeera said Snapchat’s decision to block its curated Discover Channel is “deplorable”, “alarming” and amounts to “censoring media content”. The Arabic Snapchat channel was launched in May, a month before Saudi Arabia and three other Arab states cut ties with Qatar.

The quartet accuse Qatar of using Al-Jazeera to promote its policies, and have moved to block access to the channel locally.

Snapchat, which is wildly popular among Saudi youth, said Monday the company works to comply with local laws where it operates. It says Saudi authorities asked for Al-Jazeera’s channel to be removed from the app locally because it violates internet laws.