Ismail Dhorat

The run of uncensored internet enjoyed in UAE free zones is over. Today being the first day that the du proxy was switched on i wondered how long would it be before i received the dreaded error message for visiting a ‘Questionable site’.

After a ton of frantic sms this morning from friends with ‘Is (insert social networking/torrent) site working’, i decided i would test how long it would take for me to see the message below.

I logged onto blogger this morning to post some thoughts on twitter business models, read the first blog entry from blogger about a staff member leaving. Clicked the blog link and was served up with the dreaded message.

Basically the first link i followed this morning was blocked. I am curious to actually see why the content on this site is blocked as it seems like a personal blog. The confusing part though, The blog Secret Dubai Diary is blocked but not Sex and Dubai?

Now, considering this proxy will be affecting most of the ‘Free zones’ with all the big name media companies (CNN, BBC etc.) and Internet/Technology companies (Cisco, Microsoft, Google etc.) how will this be affecting their business? There are bound to be sites that should not be blocked or sites that are blocked but could be used for legitimate reasons. An example would be a security professional checking known hacking/exploit archives or a journalist visiting ‘Political/Terrorist’ sites. I am certain it will cause some amount of frustration amongst the companies based here and possibly even hamper some media companies.

If you have been to a web site for a legitimate purpose and was blocked, feel free to post a comment or link to your blog post. You could also send an email to safesurf@du.ae to lodge a complaint.

Tagged as censorship, Global Voices, Internet, UAE + Categorized as Uncategorized