Zuckerberg Pokes at U.A.E. WhatsApp Call Service Barriers

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has taken aim at the United Arab Emirates, chiding it for blocking features of the social network’s popular WhatsApp application.

After Zuckerberg announced on Facebook on Tuesday that video calling would be possible on Whatsapp, a user in the U.A.E. complained about the inability to use voice and video calls there. “You’ve got your government to thank for that one,” he shot back, drawing about 9,000 likes.

The U.A.E.’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has said in the past that it lets licensed operators provide Voice over Internet Protocol services across their networks, but in practice they don’t exist. The authority, government spokesmen and the Dubai media office didn’t immediately respond to phone calls and e-mails seeking comment on Zuckerberg’s remark.

Source: bloomberg.com