For background as to why this might have occurred, check out this excellent planet money podcast from June: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/06/16/5332727

For background as to why this might have occurred, check out this excellent planet money podcast from June: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/06/16/533272737/episode-778-what-the-falcons-up-with-qatar http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/06/16/533272737/episo... >MALONE: For the brother monarchies, Al-Jazeera was almost immediately an annoyance because, suddenly, you have a neighbor with a news network snooping through your trash, digging up your dirt, reporting on your scandals. >SMITH: And this whole problem really came to a head during the Arab Spring, which, you may remember, there were all these sort of grassroots people's movements in Tunisia and Libya and Egypt. And Al-Jazeera really made its name being there on the ground with the revolutionaries, featuring them and, you know, sometimes glorifying them. >MALONE: And when you're Saudi Arabia or another monarchy sitting and watching this, this is not good for you. You are worried that you may be next. >KRANE: You know, here is one of their brethren with this news channel that's kind of egging on the revolution, you know. So they - you know, of course they're pretty upset about it.