UAE Clamps Down On The Internet
from the that's-not-going-to-work dept
As we recently discussed, the world is seeing what amounts to a global clamp down on internet freedom, spurred in part (but not entirely) by the various revolutions that have occurred in the Arab World over the past several years. Having said that, not all restrictive censoring governments are created equal. While we in the West have our censors and internet detractors too, one need only look at what is occurring in China, Thailand, or Saudi Arabia for that matter to see how fearful some governments are of an internet in which free ideas are exchanged.So let's go ahead and add the United Arab Emirates to that list as well, as they enact new laws designed to prevent critics of their President (don't be fooled, this is a monarchy), assembly of protest, and a host of other freedoms.
The decree outlines new protections for the state and its rulers, effectively turning online criticism into an offense punishable by years of jail time, or deportation for foreign nationals. The decree “stipulates penalties of imprisonment on any person publishing any information, news, caricatures or any other kind of pictures that would pose threats to the security of the state and to its highest interests or violate its public order,” according to WAM.Classic authoritarian move. This is somewhat similar to what we've seen in China, as well, and I imagine it will work nearly as well (meaning in large part it won't). That said, there's been a demonstrably different reaction, or at least a difference in the scope of the reaction, in the Arab world. Perhaps that is why, while China has maintained its Great Firewall all this time without massive violent backlash, the Arab World certainly cannot claim the same. Obviously the Arab Spring was about much, much more than laws governing the internet, but those draconian laws are certainly a symptom of the greater disallusionment. While I understand the fear these monarchs have of the internet, there's no denying they are afraid.
Lately, there are signs of trouble all across the Arabian Peninsula. The implementation of strict new rules, like UAE’s new internet clampdown, shows that the monarchies are not blind to the simmering dissent around them. Nowhere is this clearer than in Bahrain, a constitutional monarchy that saw the largest unsuccessful protest on the peninsula last year. Saudi troops helped to quash those demonstrations, but the underlying problem -- a lack of fair political representation -- has not been addressed.I would suggest that you're going to see more revolution in the Middle East as the curtailing of freedom out of fear by governments, such as the UAE's new internet law, continues. When you fear people who are angry about the government not representing them, further silencing those people will only further incense them. Thus far, some of these oil-rich monarchs have survived, occasionally propped up by the West. Fortunately, as the dependency by the West, particularly America, on Middle East oil continues to drop, there will be less reason to help these governments resist their own people.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: free speech, internet, uae, united arab emirates
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Do they know exaclty what is using up half the space?!?
Personally, I don't see how this should be a lawsuit. The device itself comes with a specified amount of memory. The OS takes up so much space, the applications take up additional space. If you want more space, simply uninstall something. I just got my Nokia 920 and was able to easily uninstall the bloatwear from AT&T and Nokia. Plus, I'm pretty sure that the EULA requires arbitration and denies any hope of class action.
This is the problem with our legal system....there is no common sense sometimes. I've never bought a device, laptop, or computer under the assumption that I'd actually have the full amount of advertised hard drive space available on startup. Don't get me wrong, class actions should have a place in our legal system, but this is just stupid!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Quote time...
"You can measure your freedom by seeing exactly who and what you aren't allowed to criticize."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Quote time...
Gah, Engrish!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Regulating a true communication portal like phones: ok.
Regulating something that is predominantly used for commerce and making money; aka, the Internet: not ok.
Thanks!
Yours truly,
Google
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Do they know exaclty what is using up half the space?!?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Typical Government
Revolutions often fail to address the real issues because their leaders have their own string belief, and a revolution often only changes the belief system, rather than installing a less authoritarian government.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Phones are becoming less of a true communication portal.
I don't even have a phone line in my house and I communicate with most people via email.
The internet is predominantly used for communication, that is what it was designed for you idiot!
Also this kind of regulation is actually censorship, it would be like recording every phone call and arresting people if they bad mouthed the king, who is an arsehole by the way!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Global
I'm safe as there isn't any.
The whole thing was designed to prevent anyone taking full control over it. That was it's beauty.
So now counties can only control elements of the Net by law and various filters and boy are they all trying.
I applaud the creators.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
Regulating a true communication portal like phones: ok.
Regulating something that is predominantly used for commerce and making money; aka, the Internet: not ok.
There is medicine you can take that keeps you here in the real world as opposed to fantasy land. You might want to look into getting some.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Disallusionment?
What is that, not making references to things?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Do they know exaclty what is using up half the space?!?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re:
lol
[ link to this | view in thread ]
he is the best spell cater
[ link to this | view in thread ]