Facebook banned in United Arab Emirates

by ryan | October 4, 2007 at 08:25 am

2392 views | 5 Recommendations | 2 comments

Oppressive governments the world over struggle with the access to information provided by the internet. The banning of YouTube in Morocco, the firewall in China, and most recently the apparent blocking of Facebook in the United Arab Emirates are just a sampling of cases.

Users of Facebook in the United Arab Emirates have been left wondering if their access to the site will continue after major telco Etisalat appeared to have blocked the site today. Many Web sites are actively blocked in the Persian Gulf country which is home to a large expatriate community from India, the US, Europe and other countries in the Middle East.

Blocking of websites is usually attributed to religious fundamentalism. Even though the millions of p[ictures of people drinking and having a 'good time' could stir some to question their faith...Facebook is pretty benign.

The Muslim nation blocks many sites on the basis that they are against the moral or religious values of the UAE, however the selection of sites in the past has often been arbitrary and includes a ban on VOIP, which appears to be more focused on maintaining profits at the two main telcos than concerns over moral values. Earlier this year the social networking site Orkut fell afoul of UAE's blocking policies which also prevent access to dating sites.

Although information control for religious purposes is clearly one reason for the censorship, there also appears to be an aspect of political control and, as always, business interests.

The move may not be permanent as Facebook users are currently just experiencing a 'Page Not Found' error instead of the 'UAE Screen of Death' (as pictured) so the authorities may just be testing the waters. UAE Facebook users have been concerned about this possibility for some time and have set up an online petition.

See here for the petition.

This is the profile for the UAE from OpenNet

The government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) pervasively filters Web sites that contain pornography or relate to alcohol and drug use, gay and lesbian issues, or online dating or gambling. Web-based applications and religious and political sites are also filtered, though less extensively. Additionally, legal controls limit free expression and behavior, restricting political discourse and dissent online.

This email from the government spokesperson gives the 'official' reason for the ban. Facebook is considered a dating website.

-----Original Message-----

From: help@emirates.net.ae [mailto:help@emirates.net.ae]

Sent: 05 September 2007 XX:XX

To: XXXX XXXXX

Subject: Information about case 30XXXXX, 'Please unblock Facebook'

Dear Customer,

Thank you for contacting us, we are extremely sorry for the fact that the site you have requested ( www.facebook.com ) can not be unblocked.

Reason : Dating Website.

Once again we thank you for contacting us with your query and looking forward to serving you in the future. For any further clarification please contact Etisalat Customer Care Center.

Best regards,

Etisalat Customer Care Center

Tel: 101 (toll-free)

Email:help@eim.ae

URL:http://www.etisalat.ae

Serving you 24 hours, 7 days a week

------ End of Forwarded Message

I'm not sure what make it a dating site or why dating is bad...but at least the company is "serving you 24 hours, 7 days a week".

ryan nadel, well researched and interesting article. Good stuff.

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Facebook banned in United Arab Emirates

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