Riyadh: A Saudi intellectual security researcher has warned against the negative effects of modern technology, especially the Internet and electronic games, which he described as a main factor for spread of deviation and extremism in the Saudi society.
In a press statement, Dr. Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz Gufaili stressed that this kind of technology could easily lead users in a conservative society to give up their moral values and run after some misleading concepts which promote for modernisation.
He called for imposing strict controls on the use of Internet, particularly by young children, to avoid the possibility of being attracted to terrorist groups.
He said that unless such controls were in place many children would fall prey to the attempts by the extremist groups which use the Internet to recruit new members.
Dr. Al Gufaili admitted that there are countless advantages of the Internet and electronic games. However, the disadvantages could even be greater if children were allowed to used them without any controls.
"Despite the many advantages of this technology, people must not forget the negative side which can lead to dangerous consequences", he said.
"The most negative impact of this technology in this era is that: it is exploited by extremists to spread their destructive thoughts, and therefore it is the most dangerous element, though nobody can argue about its utmost importance," he added.
He pointed out in this respect to the unlimited misleading e-mail messages transmitted by extremists to spread misleading thoughts through chat rooms, and said that the danger of these messages lie on the fact that they may convince many youngsters to adopt extremist ideologies.
As for the electronic games, Dr. Al Gufaili said that he could not find even one positive point that might serve the Islamic values.
“On the contrary they educate young generations to adopt morals and values totally contradicting the Islamic teachings and the traditions of our society", he said.
He pointed out that the majority of the electronic games contain explicit scenes, and encourage the use of violence
He advised parents and relatives to be cautious and not let their children addicted to these games “which have in them all signs of intellectual, psychological, and physical risks.”
