VZCZCXRO0701
PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHKU #1036/01 1830809
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 020809Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9506
INFO RUEHZM/GCC COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 001036 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP (BJACKSON), NEA/PPD (DBENZE) 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EINT KPAO ENRG ECON PGOV ETRD KIPR KU
SUBJECT: KUWAITI BLOGS AND OTHER INTERNET TRENDS 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary and comment:  Like young people elsewhere around the 
world, the daily lives of Kuwait's youth often center around 
friends, music, and movies.  Internet trends in Kuwait reflect these 
priorities as social networking, instant messaging, and music and 
video websites are often the most frequented by young Kuwaitis. 
Blogs continue to proliferate in Kuwait, but their popularity and 
readership depends on the level of interest in issues of the day. 
Although still a window into the minds of young Kuwaitis, blogs 
offered more substantive commentary a year ago when Kuwait saw a 
parliamentary election that focused on reform, corruption, and 
women's participation for the first time.  A review of recent 
postings on Kuwait-based blogs reveals criticism of both parliament 
and the government over corruption and the slow pace of democratic 
reform.  Looming electricity and water shortages draw the ire of 
many Kuwaiti bloggers who unanimously blame corruption and 
government incompetence for these disruptions of daily life. 
Women's issues on many levels continue to inspire commentary.  End 
summary and comment. 
 
Blog Use Depends on Issue of the Day 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (U) Kuwaiti blogs have not been immune to the effects of their 
proliferation, content and competition from other websites for 
reader attention.  When blog sites first appeared on the scene 
several years ago they enjoyed the spotlight as the "in" forum for 
social interaction and expression.  Today, blogs remain part of the 
Kuwaiti cyber scene, but are less in vogue than in the past.  Many 
blogs that Post monitored regularly during the summer of 2006 for 
glimpses of public opinion, especially the opinion of youth (note: 
sixty-nine percent of Kuwaitis are under the age of 25), no longer 
exist or have not been recently updated.  Kuwaiti parliamentary 
elections in June 2006 -- in which women voted and ran for office 
for the first time -- as well as the war in Lebanon in July and 
August, fueled a proliferation of postings on Kuwaiti blogs.  This 
summer's issues by comparison -- the grilling by parliament of the 
Minister of Energy for alleged corruption and expected electricity 
and water shortages - appear to be less compelling. 
 
¶3.  (U) For example, this time last year the blog site 
 was filled with comments on the 
Kuwaiti election campaign and commentary from female voters heading 
to the polls for the first time.  Today, it contains comments on 
dating and links to amusing YouTube videos, although political 
commentary is not entirely absent from the site.  There is scathing 
condemnation of the recent passage by parliament of a law 
prohibiting women from working past 8:00 p.m. 
 
¶4. (U) Most blogger comments on current political issues focus on 
the government and parliament, including the countdown to the June 
25 grilling by Parliament of Kuwait's Oil Minister Sheikh Ali 
Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah for his alleged involvement in a corruption 
scandal.  One such commentator at  
criticizes the minister for having "confessed that he is not 
qualified to maintain public funds."  Another on 
 expresses frustration over the potential 
outcome following weeks of debate by complaining that "half of the 
MPs haven't even decided what their stances are to the grilling." 
Criticism of parliament was the topic of an entry at the blog site 
 where a writer charged the 
National Assembly with "impeding development of the country."  The 
author supported this argument by posting footage of a day in June 
2006 when the Speaker of the National Assembly banned the Kuwaiti 
public from entering the parliament building to show their support 
for electoral reform. 
 
¶5. (U) Something that affects Kuwaitis directly during summer time - 
electricity cuts - was widely discussed on many of the blogs.  They 
is heavy on criticism of the government for its mishandling of the 
country's energy needs.  A writer at the blog 
 lambasted the government for 
"plundering public funds" while pointing out that the electricity 
and water shortages are due to the lack of investment in new power 
stations and water plants. 
 
¶6.  (U) Women's issues are frequently touched upon.  The site 
 included the venting of a 
Kuwait woman indignant to find out that only her husband's signature 
and not hers could give parental consent for the government to 
process a college scholarship for their son.  She went on to 
criticize a system that does not recognize the equal authority of 
mothers over their children. 
 
Meeting Friends and Finding News Online 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) Blog sites are just one genre of internet offerings that 
attract Kuwait's youth.  Social networking sites such as MySpace 
 and Facebook  are extremely 
popular for meeting new people and interacting with friends. 
Facebook, one of the newest such sites, has more than 9,000 profiles 
in Kuwait that include basic information such as the person's age, 
 
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sex, and nationality.  While most participants keep their identity 
hidden, a surprising number have photos.  Besides profiles, the site 
offers discussion boards where members can chat about issues.  Most 
of the chat however focuses on the mundane such as "How people dress 
to go to the mall," and "What's under her hijab?" where posts 
contain "humorous" speculation on what women wear under their 
hijabs. 
 
¶8.  (U) Facebook was the topic of a lengthy feature article in the 
June 21 edition of the English-language daily Kuwait Times.  The 
well known site MySpace is also popular in Kuwait.  It's 3,000 plus 
Kuwaiti profiles, however, appear to be predominantly American 
residents, but locals can also be found.  MySpace's largest 
Kuwait-based group, with some 125 members, are alumni of the 
American School of Kuwait. 
 
¶9. (U) Local news is also available on the Internet.  Most of the 
daily newspapers, Arabic and English language, have on-line 
editions.  The Arab Times  and Al-Qabas 
 are two examples.  The state news agency KUNA 
has a continuously updated posting of its news in English and Arabic 
at .  Of the news services that are exclusively 
online, two stand out.  The online news magazine Elaph 
, which is headquartered in the UK, carries news from 
the wire services and from other writers throughout the GCC. 
Sometimes sensationalist, it can also feature unconfirmed and 
unsubstantiated stories.  It is a popular source of news and gossip 
for the public and, in particular, Kuwaiti reporters.  Al-Aan 
 is the first Kuwaiti online magazine and is another 
source of both official and unofficial reports of events in Kuwait. 
At present its reports focus mostly on the grilling of the oil 
minister. 
 
What's on Those Laptop Computer Screens? 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (U) An evening visit to a caf in Kuwait's popular Salmiya 
district offered a glimpse of some of the sites most frequented by 
Kuwaiti youth on the web.  Whether alone or huddled around a table 
with friends, most customers were chatting on MSN or Yahoo instant 
messaging.  Music and video websites also filled a number of laptop 
screens.  Twenty-two year-old Abdullah was looking at clips of 
comedians on YouTube while at the same time chatting with friends 
and classmates on MSN, many of whom were already in Egypt or the UK 
on summer vacation.  He also uses YouTube to view music videos. 
Another group of young friends in their 20s were downloading Arabic 
music on sharefile programs that offer free pirated music, movies 
and TV programs.  They pointed to the site Ares 
 as one of many such filesharing 
sites that they use for this purpose.  This group said that they 
never pay for music or movies and instead spend much time surfing 
sharefile sites for items to add to their sizable collections. 
Their outbreak of laughter when asked about the ethics of such 
practices for a moment drew the attention of the entire caf.  Other 
popular sites to listen to Arabic music or view videos are Salmiya 
at  and 6arab at .  Most customers 
said that they sometimes follow the blogs of friends, or will logon 
to a site referred by friends if there were something interesting or 
amusing to read.  Only one youth interviewed said that he consulted 
online news sources.  His preferred sites were KUNA and the 
Arab-language newspapers. 
 
********************************************* * 
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s 
 
Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
********************************************* * 
 
LEBARON