Freedom of Speech

How much freedom of speech (or the press) is there in the UAE? I'm sometimes warned by my friends about blogging so much. One wonders how carefully he must tiptoe around topics such as religion or politics. When issues flare up as they did in the Danish cartoon controversy it's hard to keep one's thoughts to oneself, but how much at risk does one place himself, in just speaking his mind. A rule of thumb, I would say, whether there are issues of censorship or not, is to just be tactful. It never hurts to avoid offending people and you can still get your point of view across without doing so. This is a topic I explore in more depth in censorship, in A Word A Day.