Saudi Arabia’s new counterterrorism law went into effect on Feb. 1. The law's definition of terrorism among other things includes “acts that harm the reputation of the state or its standing.” A couple of days later, on Feb. 3, a royal decree was issued by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz in which not only people who fight abroad in Syria and Iraq would be criminally penalized, but also any person who publicly endorses or sympathizes with a group or trend that Saudi authorities deem as extremist.

According to the new law, people can be held for as long as a year without charge pending an investigation. The law and decree do not mean any real change from current practices, but more of a legal blanket for them. For example, blogger Fadhil al-Manasif is being prosecuted under the same charges covered by the new law. Evidence used against Manasif include him writing on a napkin: “Amid the turmoil surrounding us we have to look for points of convergence and find words of unity for the sake of our country and its security. Calls for development, change and reform are charged with incitement and people are imprisoned for it. But with patience they will be an option that cannot be avoided.” This note was considered as proof that Manasif had gone against the government, disturbed public order, undermined society security and state stability and incited sectarianism.

The initial reaction on social media was shock that the government would go as far as to brazenly spell it out in law, with many openly questioning the decree. Professor and author Mohammed al-AbdulKareem tweeted: “Who are the extremist groups specifically? What are the criteria of extremism? Who determines who's an extremist? And who uses religion for their own agenda?”

Another professor and researcher, Mubarak Bin Zuair, tweeted: “The issue of ‘delineating the terms’ and determining the ‘indications’ is the most important part because this is concerning criminal penalties that require absolute accuracy!” Saleh Asgair was quick to point out the government's fickleness by posting fatwas from the official website of the Saudi Highest Islamic Council that state that it is permissible to join and assist the Muslim Brotherhood.