The owner of a well-known e-commerce website has rejected claims that his website was blocked by the country's telecommunications authority because of an advertisement offering 500 grams of hashish for sale.

Arab News has learned that the website may have been blocked because of issues involving the security of e-payments.

Yousif Al-Rasheedi, the owner of haraj.com.sa, would not provide reasons yesterday, but said it had nothing to do with the hashish advertisement, which appeared a year ago. “The hashish picture and the user were removed from the website and reported to the authorities five minutes after he posted,” Al-Rasheedi said.

The website was blocked two days ago by the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC). A WhatsApp message appeared yesterday claiming that haraj.com.sa was blocked because of the advertisement.

Al-Rasheedi said he would announce the reasons once the CITC removes the block. He did not want users to overreact and give the CITC reason to maintain the ban.

Arab News reported last year that e-commerce operators were struggling in Saudi Arabia because of a lack of regulations. Many have also been deterred from setting up these businesses because of issues related to intellectual property rights and online payment methods. 


The haraj.com.sa website is one of the few businesses that has survived and depends largely on the goodwill of its customers to pay commission for using it to conduct business.

Al-Rasheedi said he was positive the e-commerce culture would develop and grow in the Kingdom. He said the CITC action had taken him by surprise.

In an interview with Arab News last September, Al-Rasheedi said there were no laws to protect e-traders. When he consulted the Ministry of Information, he was advised to register his online business in another country, such as the United States, to protect it.

“It seems unlikely this issue will be resolved soon,” he said.