The minister also said the Jeddah International Book Fair would take place next year.

The announcement came during an open dialogue at the book fair Wednesday night between the minister and leading Saudi intellectuals regarding the ministry’s role. Over 500 intellectuals, including literary people, poets, writers, book authors and journalists, attended the event. The forum was open to both men and women.

The minister stressed that the state’s role in maintaining Arab and Islamic heritages would not heed to the expectations of just one category of Saudi society.

“We will not leave this as a function of a sole elite category,” the minister said.

He also addressed the ministry’s role in regulating electronic media, saying that the government has an interest in ensuring these sites do not pose some kind of threat to society by posting irresponsible content.

“The threat comes from publishing unreliable and misleading materials by unknown people,” the minister said. “We want to regulate these sites not to exercise censorship but because we want to deal with real people. We don’t want to deal with (online) ghosts,” the minister said.

Khoja revealed that his ministry is also working to “improve the status of public libraries in the Kingdom.”

“We are considering assigning them to an independent deputy ministry so we can draw more focus on them,” he added.

The minister, responding to a question about women’s role in the media and the ministry, said women are already represented on the country’s networks.

“If more needs arise for women in jobs that fit their nature and match the teachings of our religion and tradition, we will give them opportunities provided that they are competent. Competence is the only criteria in employment.”