Saudi Arabia cracks down on unlicensed weather reporting with heavy fines

National Centre for Meteorology (NCM) of Saudi Arabia has issued fines totaling more than 150,000 Saudi riyals against several individuals for publishing unlicensed weather-related information, according to a report by the Arabic-language daily Okaz.

NCM spokesperson Hussein Al Qahtani stated that the enforcement action falls under Article 9 of the executive regulations governing meteorological activities, which prohibits the dissemination of weather information without prior authorization or licensing from the centre.

While financial penalties were imposed in many cases, Al Qahtani noted that not all offenders were fined.

In some instances, individuals were required to submit written pledges committing not to repeat the violations.

Al Qahtani asserted that the primary objective of these measures is not punitive. Rather, the NCM of Saudi Arabia aims to safeguard public safety, ensure the accuracy of meteorological data, and promote adherence to official regulations.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia’s authorities detained over 22,000 as part of its combined field security campaigns to find and capture those who violate residence, labor, and border security laws in seven days, according to the Ministry of Interior.

From July 24 to July 30, Saudi Arabia’s coordinated field security campaigns led to the arrest of 22,147 violators across the Kingdom’s regions for breaching residence, labor, and border security regulations, the Ministry of Interiors said.

Of those detained, 3,540 had broken labor laws, 4,772 had broken border security laws, and 13,835 had broken residence rules.

In addition, authorities arrested 34 persons trying to illegally exit the Kingdom and 1,816 people trying to enter Saudi Arabia (36% Yemeni nationals, 62% Ethiopian nationals, and 2% of other nationalities).