In May 2017, Al Jazeera became one of the many channels to partner with Snapchat in the region to be featured in its ‘Discover’ tab. However, Communicate has now learned that Al Jazeera is no longer visible for Saudi users (images below).
In early June, six Middle East countries – UAE, KSA, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen – severed diplomatic ties with Qatar. Since then, there have been talks to resolve the crisis; however, Qatar has rejected the list of demands by the Arab states including that of shutting down Al Jazeera.
Snap Inc. declined to comment on the matter but industry sources report that, as of now, the block is limited only to KSA.
Update:
A spokesperson from Snap reached out with the following statement: “We are committed to creating the best possible experience for our community while abiding with local laws of the countries that we operate in.”
