Internet Café Owners Want Extended Hours

Several internet café owners in Aleppo are asking the governor to allow their working hours to be extended, the pro-government website Syria News reported on October 20.



The governorate recently issued an order requiring internet cafes to close at 9 p.m. in the winter and 11 p.m. in the summer, in order to “protect the interests of children and their studies”. Cafes that do not abide by the new hours will be closed for seven days and shut down if they consistently break the rules.



In their petition to Aleppo governor Tamer al-Haja, the owners said they earned 75 per cent of their revenue at night because most of their customers were at work during the day. Internet connections are also poor during the daytime, and many customers also choose to go online in the evening so as to chat with people in other time zones, they argued.



Internet café owners said they are following security protocols by monitoring customers, recording information and refusing customers under the age of 14. One manager said the governorate does not distinguish between shops that cater to young people who play computer games and those that serve educated adults.



According to the website, owners estimate that 100,000 people use internet cafes in Aleppo annually.