Saudi Arabia is no stranger to being targeted by Anonymous. The hacktivist group has previously targeted Saudi Arabia for their disapproval of several of Saudi Arabia’s human rights policies. Saudi Arabia announced this week that they would be punishing online satire with up to five years in jail. The new law states “Producing and distributing content that ridicules, mocks, provokes and disrupts public order, religious values and public morals through social media … will be considered a cyber crime punishable by a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of three million riyals ($800,000).” This sort of crackdown on what Saudi citizens post online will likely not be received well by many humanitarian and activist groups around the world. The group will probably begin online propaganda campaigns against Saudi Arabia for this decision, it is also possible that Anonymous will begin to target the Saudi government with cyber-attacks as they protest this announcement.
