Snapchat Blocks Al Jazeera in Saudi Arabia

Snapchat blocks Al Jazeera in Saudi Arabia

Snapchat has blocked access to Al Jazeera's news articles and videos in Saudi Arabia following a request from the government. Saudi Arabia told the social media company that the Al Jazeera Discover Publisher Channel violated local laws.

"We make an effort to comply with local laws in the countries where we operate," a Snapchat spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday. Morad Rayyan, head of Incubation and Innovation Research at Al Jazeera, said the move was "unprecedented".

"Snapchat is a US-based company, publicly traded, and it stands for freedom of expression. We are working on contingency plans to ensure our content is available on other platforms," Rayyan said."We are urging them [Snapchat] to review the decision that was made. They were the ones who invited us to be one of their news partners for the region."