In the past week I have received a wide variety of messages to my cellphone from people not on my contact list. According to the messages, the GAM has launched a new website, I can send an SMS to find out my Tawhiji results, there is an Amman Festival this month, there is a new diabetes home-test for sale, Home Centre is having “Sensational Sofa Offers” this summer (50% off on selected items), CJC is having a 30% off store-wide sale, and you can now buy a Chevrolet for 5JDs a day.

I get these messages pretty much once or twice a day. Sometimes more.

There seems to be a free-for-all when it comes to cellular spam in Jordan, and I have heard recent talk of moves to regulate this new technological occurrence on the local front. That may not be such a bad idea and I’m guessing it came about when an official became extremely bothered by just how annoying these messages can be. This goes to show, there is a significant portion of our country’s public policy that is based on just how affected the policy makers themselves are affected!

Who can forget the 1JD levy that was charged to all cellphones and supposedly used to pay for public universities? Everyone recieved an SMS informing them that their account had been already been charged. This only highlights the point that many of these “spam” messages have to do with e-government.