In Saudia Arabia radio announcers are restricted from uttering words like “dance” or “party,” and according to Arabnews.com there is also a long list of particular words that are forbidden to mention in printed form. Among the terms are: “music, “musician,” and “violin.”

The Saudi writer Lubna Hussain, who is based in Riyadh, writes on Arabnews.com:
“How can a musical instrument that is used so plentifully in every Arabic orchestra in the region be considered so subversive that it must be blackened from the textbooks of our children? Does the word “violin” really constitute such a threat to these innocent minds that it needs to be eradicated from all printed material available?”

She continues:
“There are practices here that defy all logic. The words “violin”, “music”, “musician”, “demon” and “kiss” have all been subjected to the same cruel fate of the indiscriminate and peculiar vicissitude of our system of censorship. So whereas we are allowed to listen to music, kiss each other as a matter of due course according to our cultural norms, eulogize musicians as is clearly evident in any Amr Diab extravaganza and confront our own demons as per our religious requirements, we are to be devoid of being able to name any of the aforementioned and must engage in the pretense of not knowing what these things are even though we hear them and see them loudly and clearly.”