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Friday 03 September 2010 (UAE)
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Internet censorship in Dubai and UAE
The TRA (Telecom Regulatory Authority) decides what internet censorship policy is in the UAE, not the telecom companies Etisalat and Du, although many residents will feel that Etisalat in particular is the decider of what is and is not allowed. This perception is possibly because there are some areas in the Du Telecom network that have no, or less, censorship of the internet, for example Dubai Media Zone and the TECOM area. The TRA has said in 2008 and 2009 that these areas will have to come under the UAE censorship policy though.
For the most part, internet censorship is not overly draconian in the UAE. Certainly, much less so than somewhere like China or Iran for example. It would be rare that any news is censored, even news critical of the UAE. The filtering policy concentrates more on pornography, dating, gambling, and other culturally or religiously offensive internet content. For many families, the blocking of porn might be seen as a plus when considering a move to Dubai. And those who desperately want to access the blocked websites usually find a way eventually.
The most irritating censorship is likely to be the increasing number of Wikipedia pages that are blocked, Skype and other VOIP websites, and some search terms. Children looking for feline related material might wonder what they've done wrong when entering one particular synonym for a cat for example. Or anyone wanting to do some research into gambling or casinos will find their web searches return no results. One wonders how Dubai World (a Dubai Government owned company) ever managed to find out enough information to feel confident about investing in Las Vegas. Then again, had they been able to search more freely on the internet in the UAE, perhaps they wouldn't have lost quite so much money on their gamble ... er investment with MGM, the casino operator.
Most of the time a message will appear when a website is blocked, that makes it clear the UAE authorities have blocked the site. Occasionally though, either a blank page, or Network Error type message will appear, leaving viewers confused as to whether a site has been blocked, or there really is a problem with the website. It's not clear why the UAE telecom companies and/or telecom authorities are reluctant to let customers know about internet filtering for some sites.
Websites blocked and unblocked in the UAE
- Dating websites are blocked, although matrimonial websites are ok. Given the acceptance of western dating culture in the UAE, the blocking of such websites seems at odds with the image of tolerance that the UAE is attempting to portray.
- Gambling websites - anything to do with online gambling and casinos.
- Pornographic websites and pages. This includes online sites for magazines such as FHM, Maxim, etc even though the magazines themselves are available in the UAE.
- Websites and pages deemed to be offensive to the UAE religion and/or culture.
- Websites critical of the UAE - pages are not routinely blocked, especially from news sources. For example in December 2009, when Dubai was criticised internationally for not being up front about its debt problems after Dubai World announced they wanted an extension to some loan repayments, The Sunday Times print edition was banned in Dubai due to a report showing a montage with an image of Sheikh Mohammed apparently drowning in a sea of debt, but the same article was still available online.
- Websites with Israeli domains (ending in .il) were blocked until sometime in 2009, when the restriction was lifted.
- www.archive.org - an archive of the internet where you can find old versions of websites. An excellent resource, and thankfully unblocked in 2009
- Flickr, although many other image hosting websites are not blocked.
- Middlesex University - in the late 1990s due to the inclusion of the word "sex". No longer blocked, and there's even a Middlesex Dubai branch now.
- Orkut - which frustrates members, but Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc are not blocked.
- Skype - the internet VOIP telephone service, ostensibly for reasons of security (it's dangerous for internet users) or whatever other excuse the TRA can come up with. Most residents believe it is blocked simply to protect the revenues for the telecom operators generated from international phone calls. Many have also discovered it's not so hard to use Skype if they really want to. Curiously, the TRA points out that using VOIP is illegal in the UAE, however, Etisalat (and perhaps Du) plan to launch their own VOIP websites one day. How they get around the illegality of offering that service remains to be seen.
- secretdubai.blogspot.com - everyone's favorite blog, either because they love it, or love to hate it. The blog was blocked, then unblocked after public protest, then blocked again a few years later. Which in the end is probably what the author wanted - her (apparently) blog posts became more and more vitriolic about Dubai to the extent that it sounded like a personal rant rather than an objective critique.
- single-in-dubai.blogspot.com - way funnier, more entertaining and informative than Secret Dubai. All about the dating scene from the perspective of two clever and eloquent females. No pictures, and hard to figure out a reason why they might have been blocked. Perhaps one of the girls didn't put out on a date with someone with enough wasta to shut them down.
- Wikipedia pages on: the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) (no, we don't understand that one in the slightest either), the Danish Cartoon Controversy, random pages related to sex (both as a biological function, and a human desire) and body parts.
- www.mafiwasta.com - a website about labourers and workers in the UAE, and the harsh treatment meted out to them. Blocking seems to be off and on, and like uaeprison.com, it's not clear what the point is of blocking it in the UAE when those who reside outside the UAE are not affected by the censorship.
- www.uaeprison.com - a website critical of the UAE prison system. The irony is that most residents in the UAE have enough of an idea of how unpleasant the jails are and blocking the website won't alter that perception, but anyone outside the UAE is not affected by the internal block, and so they will be able to read about UAE jails despite the block.
Avoiding internet censorship in the UAE
- Generally, websites and forums that give specific instructions on how to get around blocked websites in the UAE, end up being blocked, so we're not going to give specific instructions.
- Apparently it's easy to get an uncensored connection to the internet from within the UAE. To be honest, we haven't tried ourselves, but our understanding is that using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is one way.
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