In force Last amended 2/12/1441 AH
Saudi Publications Law
نظام المطبوعات والنشر
Governs printing, publishing and the press in Saudi Arabia, including licensing by the Ministry of Media, rules for local publications and the press, penalties and appeals. It concerns publishers, printers, journalists and authors.
- Articles
- 49
- In force
- 49
- Amended
- 6
- Issued
- 1/1/1421 AH
Issued by: مرسوم ملكي رقم م/32 بتاريخ 3 / 9 / 1421 · قرار مجلس الوزراء رقم 211 بتاريخ 1 / 9 / 1421
Each article shows the official Arabic text, which is the only legally binding version, followed by our plain-English explanation.
Browse Publications Law by topic
Scope of the Printed Materials and Publication Law4 articlesLicensing Publication Activities5 articlesProhibitions in Publishing1 articleApproving Domestic Printed Materials7 articlesForeign Printed Materials and Imports6 articlesIssuing Newspapers9 articlesLiability of the Editor-in-Chief and Writer3 articlesCorrections and Replies to Inaccurate News1 articleAdvertising in Printed Materials3 articlesWithdrawing Printed Materials3 articlesPublishing Violations and Penalties1 articlePrinted Materials Violations Committees and Grievances2 articlesBook Fairs, Associations and Regulations6 articles
Articles of the Saudi Publications Law
- Article 1The article defines the key terms of the Law of Printed Materials and Publication, such as circulation, press, journalist, newspaper, printed material, printing press, publisher, author and distributor.
- Article 2The article sets out the activities covered by the Law of Printed Materials and Publication, including printed materials, printing presses, libraries, photography, artistic production, advertising, publishing and distribution.
- Article 3The article states that the aims of printed materials and publishing include calling to the true religion and noble morals, guiding to what is good and right, and spreading culture and knowledge.
- Article 4The article requires a license from the Ministry to carry out any activity in Article 2, without exempting anyone from other licenses, and refers its term and renewal to the Implementing Regulations.
- Article 51 - مع مراعاة ما تقضي به الأنظمة والاتفاقيات يشترط فيمن يعطى الترخيص الآتي : أ - أن يكون سعودي الجنسية. ب - ألا يقل عمره عن خمس وعشرين…Amended M/18
- Article 6The article allows government bodies, educational and research institutions, scientific societies, literary clubs and private press institutions to issue non-periodical publications within their field and under their responsibility.
- Article 7The article sets the license or renewal fee for the head office or a branch: SAR 2,000 for activities such as printing presses, publishing and advertising, and SAR 1,000 for activities such as libraries and photography.
- Article 8The article guarantees freedom of expression through the various means of publication, within the bounds of Sharia and statutory provisions.
- Article 9The article requires those responsible for a printed material to give objective, constructive criticism based on correct facts, and prohibits publishing seven kinds of content by any means.Amended
- Article 10The article requires the necessary details to be recorded on every printed material printed inside the Kingdom, as set by the Implementing Regulations.
- Article 11The article allows a license to be assigned to others, leased or shared with others, on condition of the Ministry's approval and consistency with the Law.
- Article 12The article requires heirs to notify the Ministry of the license holder's death within two months, and gives them the right to continue the activity after the Ministry's approval and in line with the Law.
- Article 13The article requires two copies of a printed material to be submitted to the Ministry for approval before printing or circulation, and requires the Ministry to decide, with reasons, within 30 days, with a right to file a grievance.
- Article 14The article requires a printing press to keep a register of the printed materials printed there, to be shown to the competent officials on request, and lets the Ministry exempt some printed materials in the Regulations.
- Article 15The article makes the author, publisher and printer responsible for violations in a printed material printed or circulated without approval, then the distributor if they cannot be identified, then the seller.
- Article 16The article provides that the Ministry requires the author or publisher to submit the copies required for deposit of what is printed inside the Kingdom, according to the Deposit Law.
- Article 17The article prohibits adding advertisements to films and tapes contracted for exploitation in the Kingdom except through local advertising companies and after the Ministry's approval.
- Article 18The article provides that external printed materials are approved if they are free of anything that offends Islam or the system of government, harms the supreme interest of the state, or offends public decency.
- Article 19The article requires external printed materials to be approved or rejected, with reasons, within 30 days of receiving the request, and refers the treatment of newspapers to the Regulations.
- Article 20The article requires every Saudi who issues a non-periodical printed material outside the Kingdom and asks for its approval to attach proof of depositing the required copies under the Deposit Law.
- Article 21The article exempts from the Ministry's control printed materials that government bodies, educational and research institutions, scientific societies, literary clubs and private press institutions import for their purposes.
- Article 22The article refers to the Implementing Regulations the regulation of importing and distributing external printed materials, and the procedures for facilitating researchers' carrying of books and subscribing to them for their scientific purposes.
- Article 23The article allows foreign newspapers to be printed in the Kingdom after the Prime Minister's approval, as set by the Implementing Regulations and consistent with the Law.
- Article 24The article provides that local newspapers are not subject to control except in exceptional circumstances approved by the Prime Minister.
- Article 25The article regulates issuing newspapers by private bodies and individuals under a license after the Prime Minister's approval, accepts the Ministry's approval alone for some bulletins and magazines, and sets who is responsible for what is published.
- Article 26The article requires the license holder's name, the editor-in-chief's name, the issue number, place and date of issue, the price and the printing press's name to be placed in a prominent place in the newspaper.
- Article 27The article prevents using the name of a newspaper that has ceased publication until ten years after it stopped, unless the interested parties waive, and prevents adopting a name confusing with another newspaper's name.
- Article 28The article refers to the Implementing Regulations the rules on the annual subscription fee for newspapers, the price of a single copy and advertising matters.
- Article 29The article allows the Ministry to withdraw a newspaper's license or cancel approval of its issue if it is not issued within two years of notification of the license, or if it stops for more than a continuous year.
- Article 30The article prohibits newspapers and their staff from accepting any benefit, such as gifts or subsidies, from internal or external bodies except after the Ministry's approval.
- Article 31The article provides that a newspaper may not be prevented from being issued except in exceptional circumstances and after the Prime Minister's approval.
- Article 32The article allows editorial advertisements of institutions and individuals to be published provided it is indicated that they are advertising material, and of states after the Ministry's approval with the same indication.
- Article 33The article makes the newspaper's editor-in-chief, or whoever acts in his place in his absence, responsible for what is published in it, along with the responsibility of the writer for what the text contains.
- Article 34The article provides that Umm Al-Qura newspaper is the official newspaper of the state.
- Article 35The article requires a newspaper to correct an incorrect statement or false news free of charge in the first issue after the interested party's request, and gives the injured person the right to claim compensation.
- Article 36The article allows the Ministry, when necessary, to withdraw any printed material without compensation if it contains any of the matters prohibited from publication under Article 9.Amended
- Article 37The article establishes one or more primary committees to consider violations of the Law and apply penalties, on a complaint from a person with standing and a direct interest or on referral by the Minister.Amended
- Article 38The article sets the penalties for violating the Law: a fine of up to SAR 500,000 doubled on repetition, suspension from writing, closure or blocking, and publishing an apology, with referral of serious violations.Amended
- Article 39The article allows the Ministry to withdraw prohibited or unapproved circulating printed materials that contain prohibitions, and makes the primary committee decide to destroy them without compensation or return them abroad.
- Article 40The article establishes an appeals committee that considers grievances against the primary committee's decisions with final decisions, and regulates the committees' working rules, their formation by royal order and the term of membership.Amended
- Article 41The article requires the Ministry, if it approved a printed material and something later arises that requires withdrawing it, to compensate the interested party for the cost value of the withdrawn copies.
- Article 42The article requires the Ministry to assign qualified people with competence, specialization and familiarity with the laws to approve scientific and intellectual works, and allows it to use non-full-time people from outside.
- Article 43The article requires the Ministry, in coordination with the relevant bodies, to set the rules governing book fairs held by private publishing and distribution houses, and to supervise them.
- Article 44The article allows associations to be established by decision of the Minister for the activities in Article 2, to address their problems and coordinate their tasks, with each association setting regulations approved by the Minister.
- Article 45The article makes the Ministry the body responsible for following up the implementation of the Law of Printed Materials and Publication and holding violators accountable according to its provisions.
- Article 46The article requires the Minister to issue the Implementing Regulations of the Law within a maximum of eighteen months of its publication, and to publish them in the official gazette.
- Article 47The article requires everyone carrying on an activity governed by the Law to regularize their situation in accordance with its provisions within two years of its coming into force.
- Article 48The article provides that the Law replaces the Law of Printed Materials and Publication issued by Royal Decree No. M/17 dated 13/4/1402 AH, and repeals any provisions that conflict with it.
- Article 49The article provides that the Law of Printed Materials and Publication is published in the official gazette and takes effect ninety days after its publication.