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Freedom of speech and democracy in the UAE ???
2008-04-15
Dubai, 14 April (AKI) - Thousands of websites in the United Arab Emirates were blocked on Monday, according to an email statement sent by DU, one of the country’s major Internet service providers, to all its users.
The list of websites that have been blocked does not only include anti-Islam sites or those that are deemed morally inappropriate, but also various information sites such as the Arab Times.
A well-known Saudi blogger, Fuad Ahmed al Foran, was jailed last December for criticising the government in Riyadh in his blog and a Bahraini blogger and human rights activist, Abdullah Mohsen, was also recently arrested.
What is going on?
There’s a long article in todays Arab Times about this as well.
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8 comments
A couple of days ago someone was searching for Al-Sabah (The ruling family in Kuwait) in my blog! I guess it was someone from the "secret service of Kuwait". Because on Jan a Kuwaiti blogger criticized the Crown Price!
Maybe I should start writing in German - just to be safe
You think a translation with Bablfish from German into Arabic gets a better result than Arabic into english (like the Restaurant menu)?
I'm afraid so, Jonathan
Is it really a surprise that the UAE would ban access to some blogs? Like most Islamic states do? There are bloggers who have been arrested and held in India and other places. China as well. Communist dictators are no different than Islamic dictators.
It might happen sooner than you think.
Here you are not only getting censored, you might end up in jail.
They are actually talking about two different things.
The blocking of websites, not only porn, but newspapers and such.
And the arrest of some bloggers, for whatever dubious reasons.
And nobody said that it's only Islamic governments that do this.
I only mention the US because unless you're blind things are changing. Talk to anyone who'd over 60 and ask them how a national ID card would have been percieved, or how warrantless wiretapping would have gone over.
The analogy, you put a frog in a pot with water and turn the heat on, the frog won't jump out even after the water has reached the boiling point. That's what is happening in the US - the public is just going along unaware the water is getting hotter and hotter (our freedoms and rights, that are not owned by the government, are being taken away) and we just sit back...
Sorry to go off Nicole, but it amazes me that people don't see this in the US - it just further illustrates my point.
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