UAE to step up censorship of Internet

Bombay News.Net Sunday 13th April, 2008

One of the two major ISP's in the United Arab Emirates is to begin censoring the Internet immediately.

du, which is 40% owned by the Federal government, will commence blocking non-conforming sites on Monday.

The second major ISP provider in the country, Etisalat, is already banning objectionable sites.

du subscribers were notified mid-afternoon Sunday by a general-circular text message to their cell phones, which said 'sites that do not conform to the moral, social and cultural values of the UAE,' will be blocked as of Monday.

Separately, du said in a statement, 'It is our constant endeavour to maintain the perfect balance between ensuring that all our customers' requirements are met, and that we comply with all the guidelines of the TRA (UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority), including those on Internet content filtering.'

'The World Wide Web offers us great opportunities to get and share information and to communicate. However, it is imperative that when making use of this technology for its enormous benefits, we respect the moral, social and cultural values of the United Arab Emirates,' the statement said.

'du will be blocking all content that is not in line with these values, effective from 14 April 2008,' the du statement added.

Etisalat, the sole telecommunications services provider in the UAE until the arrival of Du in February last year, has been actively baning non-conforming sites for some years. Etislata is 60% owned by the Federal Government.