With the recent crackdown on expats, one of the rumors making its rounds was that if you were caught with any VOIP app on your phone you would get deported. According to the Ministry of Communication, Kuwait has no plans to ban any app be it Whatsapp, Viber or anything else for that matter. [Source]
27 replies on “Government not banning any smart phone apps”
people i dont know how they think to get depeoreted over an app 😛
just think people if u were to get deported over an app wouldn’t u had been already get deported for using skype all these years 😛
Why did you post this Mark. It was so fun watching all those spineless people uninstall apps from their phone because they thought some genius at Kuwait Police will check. Comedy Gold 🙂
+1 : )
news paper is unreliable.
Kuwait News Agency confirmed that the Minister of Communications said there’s no plan to ban any app: https://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2321955&language=en
it’s quite COMFORTING to have a newspaper as a source.
no, thank you. I won’t take the chances of having my phone CONFISCATED (never heard of somebody deported).
It’s not just the newspapers, Kuwait News Agency were the first to report this: https://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2321955&language=en
That’s the official Minister of Communication’s words: NO BAN.
Are you comfortable now?
unless somebody posts a written directive complete with ministry logos and stamps in the newspaper, only then i will believe it is legal to use VOIP software, contrary to what has been reported since 2008 (you can google it) and has been discussed/presented:
https://www.ituarabic.org/2007/IP-VOIP/Docs/Doc5-Saudi%20Arabia.pdf
you may read page 33 specifically out of that PDF.
give me some proof, not a he-says, she-says on the newspaper 🙂
Kuwait New Agency is the OFFICIAL government news agency website, this is where ALL of the news from the government gets announced.
The Kuwait News Agency is NOT a ”newspaper”. It has been reliable for since its establishment three decades ago, it is an ESTABLISHED NEWS AGENCY by the government.
Stop giving me links of Saudi Arabia BS. You need to look at a map. You people seem really confused about the location of Kuwait.
Stop believing any stupid rumor you hear.
and it says “social networking applications”. it may be similar, but not entirely a VOIP issue.
Kuwait News Agency is the official government news agency.
i’d take my friend’s words over newspapers anytime (first hand account, until now their phones not returned)
besides, if newspapers are to be believed:
1. there’s no on-going raid during un-godly hours
2. police are courteous during raids
3. my salary is already more than 2,000kd if i count the number of times they published our salary has been “increased”.
The Kuwait News Agency is NOT a newspaper. Can you NOT read properly? The Kuwait News Agency is the official government agency, they reported that the GOVERNMENT has NO PLANS to ban any smart phone app TOO. READ:
https://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2321955&language=en
Mark has linked a newspaper as his source, whereas the Kuwait News Agency were the first to report that the government has no intention to ban any app.
no, YOU read.
The Kuwaiti government has no plans to ban or block any smart phone social networking applications,
no mention of VOIP!!!
You guys always have to find a problem? Here you go’ the ministry says nothing will be done. My god who’s ever heard of a cop checking a phone.
People love making up baseless rumors.
CONFISCATED?? Over something than just be Uninstalled/deleted? That’s why this whole thing is a crock of Tough Talk with not a leg to stand on.
Kuwait News Agency isn’t a newspaper, it’s the government’s news site.
Paranoia seems to run deep on real or imagined deportation issues. If I were really that worried about it, I’d just leave to save myself the stress.
thanks for your info mark… and pls update ur fb page
If lets say those apps were banned, were they going to go through peoples phones? It didnt make sense to begin with
This is off subject – I saw small seedless watermelons from Spain at the Carrefour in the Emirates Mall.
i’ll let a lawyer, like fajer settle this issue 🙂
Is skype still banned or not ? because the website used to be blocked before but is now open depending on your internet provider. Like Gulfnet & Mada its open but KEMS still blocked.
You are unable to download the skype software in Kuwait unless you use a VPN. as far as I know you are not blocked from using it, you just can’t download it, legally… 🙂
Yeeeaahh, about that… I just downloaded Skype from the Apple App Store when I got the new iPhone 5 from Zain here in Kuwait… No VPN just straight up downloaded it my friend.
they didnt say they did it, but if they are going to do it
then that means the must banned all smart phones: samsung, apple,
blackberry, nokia, sony ericsson… etc even laptops and computers.
and for people who say there will let a police check ur phones no -.-
the government can check thru internet if there is any voip cuz even viber, blackberry bbm calls, and skype are by internet so it has a ip and they can track
who used it and get a person name by the device sellings.
right now im using american, uk, germany, french ips to hide my ip
while im using my internet in kuwait so i have access to wat i want while my
ip is addressed in another country