UAE censorship continues by targeting UK websites

UAE censorship continues by targeting UK websites

Censorship in the UAE is not limited to private individuals and the locking up of of journalists. In recent months it has been extended to news organisations and websites, including UK websites. 

The Middle East Eye is the latest website to report that they have been blocked in the UAE. This comes just months after Emirati citizens have reported that they had alos not been able to access other websites, including two other British news sites the Middle East Monitor and Al Araby Al Jadeed (English).

Increasing censorship has been part of the UAE clampdown on political dissent - with the authorities bringing into force the Cyber Crimes Law that target and prosecut numerous individuals for their use of social media. People have been disappeared, imprisoned and tortured as a consequence of the harsh laws put in place by the authorities.

These closures are not the first to have happened and indeed have been going on for many years. When The Independent newspaper published it's article "The Dark Side of Dubai" by Johan Harri, the article was unavailable in the UAE.

These are just some examples of the creeping censorship in the Gulf State. With little opposition the UAE are now able to censor on an international scale and target those not event within their borders. Citizens and residents in the UAE have even less access to free speech and continue to find that their freedoms are under threat.

 

Join our campaign and sign up to get involved: media@icfuae.org.uk