Riyadh - The game has been blamed for a wave of crimes, traffic violations and even a death in cities around the globe.
By Curated by Yousuf Saifuddin Kapadia
Published: Sat 23 Jul 2016, 2:05 PM
Pokémon Go players in Saudi Arabia will be fined for playing the game while driving, the Traffic Department has warned.
Playing the popular mobile game while driving will incur a fine of Saudi Riyals 300 on motorists, according to Major General Abdullah Al-Zahrani, director general of the Eastern Province Traffic Department, Saudi Gazette reported.
However no driver has so far been caught playing Pokemon Go, but tickets for this violation will soon be issued.
"Playing Pokemon will distract the driver who may hurt himself, other motorists and pedestrians."
Other security agencies have also been authorised to issue the fine.
The game has become a worldwide phenomenon since it launched two weeks ago, including in the the Middle East, particularly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The game has been blamed for a wave of crimes, traffic violations and even a death in cities around the globe.
In Baltimore a driver playing Pokemon Go was caught on a body-camera crashing into a police car on Monday. The driver, who was out of the vehicle, showed his phone to the officers, which appeared to show he was playing Pokemon Go, and he stated, "That's what I get for playing this dumb game."
How does the game work?
As an augmented reality game, Pokémon GO uses your phone's GPS feature and clock to detect where you are, and make Pokémon appear around you at any given time, making them appear against the real background using your phone's camera.
The Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) also issued warning that Pokemon Go and similar gaming applications expose players' geographical locations, Saudi Gazette reported.
Fatwa!
A 16-year-old fatwa against the Pokemon Go game has also been renewed in the Kingdom. The old fatwa(No.21,758) was issued in 2001. The fatwa considers the game as gambling, a practice prohibited in Islam.
According to the Arab News, the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars, on the website of the General Presidency for Scholarly Research and Ifta, has explicitly renewed the fatwa of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas banning the controversial mobile game.
"The current version of the game is the same as the old one," Shaikh Saleh Al-Fozan, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars was quoted saying by Arab News. Many prohibitions were cited in the fatwa for banning the game including the gambling practices as two of the players compete to gain cards holding different prices. Others prohibitions concern polytheism, worship in many gods, logos, advertising of disbelief, forbidden images and other caveats.
Authorities in the UAE and Kuwait have warned of security dangers associated with playing Pokemon GO.
The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) that it could be used against them for criminal activities.
"Some of these virtual reality games use geo-positioning technology to track the users' locations, and tap into their smartphone cameras, making their privacy open to predators. The TRA warns all smart mobile and device users against using these applications in sensitive, private places, to ensure that their privacy and safety is secure," said Eng Mohamed Al Zarooni, Director of Policy and Programs Department, TRA.
Kuwait's Interior Ministry also warned that users must resist the urge to point camera phones at Pikachu popping out in front of the Kuwaiti Emir's palace, mosques, oil facilities or military bases.
"The danger in dealing with this game is that it involves the user photographing areas nearby with . smart phones which transfer the pictures of the sites to third parties," Kuwait Interior Ministry undersecretary Suleiman Al-Fahd said.
"The Interior Ministry has informed security men to show zero tolerance to anyone approaching such prohibited sites, deliberately or not," Fahd said in a statement.
Nintendo Co Ltd's Pokemon GO is set to be released to 200 more countries "relatively soon," after being initially launched in five countries.
The colorful creatures have been sighted at landmarks such as Egypt's pyramids and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Egypt's cabinet spokesman said on the news show "90 minutes" on Wednesday that authorities were investigating Pokemon GO and sought to "minimize the dangers of these games."
iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
