According to a directive from Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court, flogging as a form of punishment will be abolished and replaced with imprisonment and/or fines to "bring the kingdom into line with international human rights norms against corporal punishment". The legal document says that this change is an extension of human rights reforms spearheaded by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

While praised and welcomed by some, others say that flogging should have been abolished many years ago, and that other forms of capital and corporal punishment such as amputation and beheading are still not outlawed.

In 2015, flogging in Saudi Arabia hit global headlines after blogger Raif Badawi was publicly subjected to the punishment after being convicted of cybercrime and insulting Islam. He was sentenced to 10 years of prison, 1000 lashes to be carried out over 20 weeks, and a severe fine the equivalent of well over a quarter million United States dollars. However, after the first 50 lashes were administered in his first punishment session, global outrage and reports that the diabetic man with hypertension was nearly killed and had not recovered from his first 50 lashes postponed further flogging.