Livingston

Jan
05
2008

The United Arab Emirates Blocks Skype

This week the United Arab Emirates (UAE) blocked Skype form its telecom networks.  The move — which stopped my wife and I from communicating with each other while she’s on assignment abroad — continued the UAE’s policy of online censorship.  Other barred social networks include Flickr and Twitter.

The United Arab Emirates delivers this message to blocked social network subscribers:

We apologize, the site you are attempting to visit has been blocked due to its content being inconsistent with the religious, cultural, political and moral values of the United Arab Emirates.

Facebook is still allowed, although the UAE has been blocked it in the past.  The popular open network remains a big hit in Arabic nations, consistently ranking as a top ten web site.

The UAE is an unusual country in that it seeks to promote "political freedom" yet protect its religious and cultural heritage.  It also wants to be perceived as an economic and technological leader. It’s hard to imagine a country becoming a technological leader without embracing today’s hot social networking technologies. Or one that truly encourages political freedom.

You can learn more about the UAE’s Internet Filtering policy here. Thanks to Shel Israel for encouraging me to blog this.

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by Geoff Livingston | Social Networks |

7 Responses to “The United Arab Emirates Blocks Skype”

  • KDPaine Says:

    January 5th, 2008 at 11:18 am

    They also block Flickr. I tried to post pictures when I was there last year, no luck.

  • Ryan Lanham Says:

    January 5th, 2008 at 11:31 am

    My sympathy. Skype is my highpoint of the day. UAE policy stinks…

  • Geoff Livingston Says:

    January 5th, 2008 at 2:41 pm

    Thanks, KD and Ryan. Yeah, the policy indicates the criteria for blocking networks. Usually sex and curse words. Unfortunately, social networks involve people, so inevitably people talk about sex and curse. So it’s no wonder almost all of them have been banned by the UAE at some time in the past or present.

  • Il Blog di Skype Says:

    January 5th, 2008 at 3:06 pm

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  • UAE Blocks Social Media Networks | AEJMC Members Forum Says:

    January 5th, 2008 at 7:38 pm

    Kramer auto Pingback[...] United Arab Emirates (UAE) has blocked Skype form its telecom networks. Other barred social networks include Flickr and Twitter. The UAE [...]

  • Ron Callari Says:

    July 14th, 2008 at 5:02 pm

    What is most disturbing to me personally is that a social networking website that I built on July 13, 2008 was censored in the UAE the following day, on July 14, 2008. The Hotel SEO Executives is a group that tallies only 20 members to date. It is a network of hoteliers and SEO executives worldwide that collaboratively exchange ideas and information pertaining to search engine optimization in the hotel industry. Hardly a threatening group! Definitely not an organization that would harm “the religious, cultural, political and moral values of the United Arab Emirates!” But yet a Hyatt Dubai hotel executive was blocked by Etisalat from registering on just that site.

  • Sara Croly Says:

    August 19th, 2008 at 5:13 am

    check middlesurf.com

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