A recent study found that pornographic material accounted for nearly 70 percent of messages exchanged by teenagers. Abdullah ibn Mohammed Al-Rasheed, associate professor at the College of Dawa and Information in Riyadh, who conducted the study, said 88 percent of girls had been victims of such misuse.It seems that human nature takes over no mater how strict things may get. It reminded me of something I heard last year about how boys and girls use bluetooth to check each other out and flirt.
There seems to be no real rules of conduct of bluetooth in Saudi Arabia because it is not being discussed about. All of it is underground in a way. Innocent flirting to pornographic messages all seem to be too taboo to establish what is okay and what is not. It is also harder to punish those because of how mobile and "minor" in a sense the infraction can be. While there seems to be some policing of this, it may not be enough. In a place that is very conservative, ingenious technology use is thwarting known social codes. As huge shocker to all of us, they are even on it in the mosque.
It will be interesting to see what, if anything the government is able to do about such technologies and incorporating them in sharia law.
wow that's dedication to an assignment! I think this article you found is really important too. We tend to think about conservative cultures (and the people within them) as having very little agency. This 'alternative' use of bluetooth is one example of how spaces are made under the noses of authorities!
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