There are many in Saudi Arabia who still hanker after the days when the government could control almost everything that people said or heard.

Last month came the announcement that bloggers would have to register with the authorities – which in the face of uproar from the blogosphere was subsequently denied (apparently they will merely be encouraged to register).

But another announcement, last week, has received less attention. This is the decision by the royally-appointed Shura Council "to further study ways to ensure a sense of morality can remain in the kingdom’s mass media".

Arab News quotes the council's assistant secretary-general as saying: "The council is aware of the imminent danger of the multimedia and mass media … and their implications on the cultural, social and economic life of people in the kingdom."

The paper says members of the council have "suggested creating a central body to codify the moral and social content of the mass media, which includes mobile phones, TVs, the internet, radio and other electronic devices that can be misused".

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 3 October 2010.