According to a recent report by the state-owned Saudi Press Agency (SPA), citing a statement made by the Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission, a number of popular Internet chat, call, and messaging services - including Skype, WhatsApp, and Viber - may be banned by Saudi Arabia because these apps they do not comply with the country's regulatory requirements.

The SPA report has revealed that local services companies have apparently been asked by the Commission to get in touch with the international providers of the in-question chat, call, and messaging services to ensure that their services adhere to the regulations prevailing in Saudi Arabia.

In its statement threatening to ban the mentioned services in Saudi Arabia, the Commission said that "some telecom applications over the Internet protocol currently do not meet the regulatory conditions" in the kingdom.

The Commission further said in the statement that it intends taking "appropriate action" against the regulation-violating apps and services in case they fail to meet the country's stipulated regulatory conditions.

Meanwhile, despite the fact that there currently is not much clarity about the regulations which the mentioned apps and services are supposedly violating, a CNN report - citing reports by the local media in Saudi Arabia - has pointed out that the Saudi authorities probably want the authority to monitor these apps and services.