Mass media in Saudi Arabia provides unwavering support for the Mohammed bin Salman regime and routinely ignores negative reporting about the kingdom.[1] Independent media are non-existent in Saudi Arabia.[2] Outlets and journalists that fail to support the regime are subject to suspicion and repression.[2]
Most are privately owned but are subsidized and regulated by the government in Saudi Arabia.[3] The "Basic Law" of the kingdom states that the mass media's role is to educate and inspire national unity; consequently, most popular grievances go unreported in Saudi Arabia. For instance, the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990 was not immediately reported in the Saudi Arabian mass media.[4] As of 2013, BBC News reports that criticism of the government and the royal family and the questioning of Islamic tenets "are not generally tolerated. Self-censorship is pervasive."[5] As of 2014, Freedom House[6] rates the kingdom's press and internet "Not Free".