The Saudi mobile phone company Mobily is prohibiting its Saudi users from voting in a popular talent show, following a religious edict deeming the program immoral.
According to Reuters, Saudi religious clerics have criticized the pan-Arab talent show Star Academy as a crime against Islam.
The program, the pan-Arab version of American Idol, is carried by the Lebanese channel LBC.
The show was extremely popular in its first two seasons and has generated huge media coverage across the Arab world.
Last April, a young Saudi man won the competition. Two Saudis are participating in the third season, which began two weeks ago.
The Riyadh-based Mobily decided to block text messages for Star Academy, in accordance with a fatwa, or religious decree issued last year, a company spokesman told Reuters.