UAE Community Blog: secretdubai blocked (again)

11 March, 2008

secretdubai blocked (again)

It would appear Etisalat has blocked the secret dubai blog again.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...: You need to write to them and they will verify the same. Why it should not be blocked..; 11 March, 2008 16:22
AM said...: what were the last few posts about?; 11 March, 2008 16:26
Kyle said...: This is really in bad taste, and not a good sign.; 11 March, 2008 16:28
Anonymous said...: Is expressing my opinion not allowed in this country?; 11 March, 2008 17:11
DXBluey said...: Last few posts were pretty tame...

"It really is Mad March in the UAE: here's a newlywed groom abandoning his wife in an Abu Dhabi shopping mall and going home to sleep:

Apparently, the man only realised his folly when his mother asked where his wife was. He, then, rushed to the shopping mall to find his wife weeping, surrounded by curious onlookers. The hapless woman did not have the contact number of her husband nor the contact number of her in-laws.

However, after some heart-burning and arguments, followed by conciliation efforts by elderly people, the woman forgave her husband... and the couple are reportedly living happily ever after!"

Maybe in the comments sections?

They've blocked in error before and switched back again quickly...; 11 March, 2008 17:15
Kyle said...: Dxbluey:

Maybe in the comments sections?

To my knowledge, there weren't any helter-skelter comments in the 'Mall Marriage' label, that'd warrant a block.; 11 March, 2008 18:36
B.D. said...: That's a pretty funny story--the Mall Marriage. Why was his wife so hapless? Had she just landed in Abu Dhabi from the moon and had no way to find her way home?; 11 March, 2008 18:53
Anonymous said...: Maybe it was the headline 'Wrong kind of "blow" job'?!

Or maybe it was etisalat's hapless censor bot. And when it goes for human review, it will be unblocked. And to think, we actually pay money for this service!; 11 March, 2008 19:00
Anonymous said...: personally, i'm glad it's blocked. although i'm sure it will be unblocked sometime.
in this country we welcome different opinions(freedom of speech) yet secretdubai's posts has always been offensive.; 11 March, 2008 19:53
Anonymous said...: I'm pretty sure it's her post about members of the Royal Family that allegedly dabble in illegal substances. I was surprised that it didn't happen sooner after I read that.; 11 March, 2008 20:06
Anonymous said...: I am totally with freedom of speech, but there is a big difference between freedom and disrespect. Freedom of speech is great if it’s based on mutual respect, or constructive criticism; otherwise, it should be called anything else. “You have the right to sneeze, but don’t have the right to sneeze on my face!”
I think this decision came a bit late… sorry…; 11 March, 2008 20:34
Anonymous said...: “You have the right to sneeze, but don’t have the right to sneeze on my face!”
nice; 11 March, 2008 21:23
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 11 March, 2008 23:36
Keef said...: The rules in the Free World go like this: you can say anything you like about anyone (including a 'royal') as long as you do not libel or slander them. Libel is written down, slander is just speech. Both relate to defamation: falsely accusing someone of an illegal, immoral, just plain bad action.

In the non-free world, these things are unclear: even the 'liberal' UAE has a law that says you may not say anything bad about the ruling family (even if you or the rest of the world know it to be true), nor against the rulers of friendly states. So, for example, if I was still in the Middle East, I would be ill-advised to say that Hosni Mubarak is a dictator, or that Muammar Qadaffi, despite his fashion-sense, is a sandwich short of a picnic.

Why has SD been banned again? i have no idea. But I do think it's time for all of this banning and censorship nonsense to stop. A good, strong government (such as the UAE has) has nothing to fear from a little bit of criticism. And a lot to learn.; 11 March, 2008 23:49
secretdubai said...: Hi guys. Anyone wanting to access the blog just try the mirror at LiveJournal.

You can also access the site through an RSS reader, or try something like this Google Reader link.

No clue why I've been blocked, I'm not worried and I won't be stopping posting or toning down (the reverse in fact!)

Now the offenderati can't even read me, what they can't see certainly can't hurt them.

And anyone wanting another method to access me, just drop me an email - my username here at gmail.; 11 March, 2008 23:55
Anonymous said...: To Hatem and others: a French author from the 18th century once said: "I disagree with what you have to say, but will fight to the death to protect your right to say it." when he was being slandered by another author.

This is the basis of the understanding of free speech concept in the western world and probably something that can not be understood in arab countries as we have had much different path.

Rds,

'Think for yourself, and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too.' (Votaire); 12 March, 2008 00:05
Anonymous said...: Must have been unblocked again. I accessed Secret Dubai without any problem just now.; 12 March, 2008 04:33
Kyle said...: @ Hatem:

Freedom of speech is great if it’s based on mutual respect, or constructive criticism

Freedom of speech is exactly what it’s supposed to be. You’re free to speak your mind and not give a rat’s ass about consequences.

But, how the devil would you know all these things when you’ve never been free in the first place to speak your mind off?

I think this decision came a bit late… sorry…

I disagree. It should have never come in the first place.

But I wonder, why you’re sorry?; 12 March, 2008 05:52
Anonymous said...: Keeifieboy; I totally respect people criticizing rulers for the benefit of the nation. Same like those who lead demonstrations or write in newspapers, while they are almost sure that they will be detained the next day. That is great in my opinion, and that's a major difference between East and West. Agree!
But mocking a nation for the sake of sarcasm or feeling superior is a completely different story.

Kyle, my sorry was to those who are unhappy with the blocking, for disagreeing with them. Anyways, it’s unblocked again today...

I also feel that SD is not in UAE anymore, so in any case, she would continue writing whether it's blocked in UAE or not... just my feeling...; 12 March, 2008 08:18
Dubai Entrepreneur said...: People like hatem are obviously very typical of how most Middle Easterners view free speech. It's actually more than just the Middle East and spreads to most of the non-Western world. In Thailand, you can criticize Thaksin all you want, but you say one thing, one thing against the king and you're history. It's called 'respect'. Right.

Free speech is a concept that allows you to say intelligent things, stupid things, respectful AND disrespectful things.. FREELY. That's the whole idea. If you are spewing idiocy, unless everyone around you is an idiot, no one will care and people will move on.

These concepts are really hard to translate to the Middle Eastern culture unfortunately.

secretdubai's blog is sometimes entertaining, sometimes boring.. on the rare occasion I find it offensive, but mostly it's just a person's opinion. So what?

Sadly, I am not surprised and was expecting it. I suspect SD herself is not all that surprised.; 12 March, 2008 08:26
Proud Emirati said...: Dubai Entrepreneur, I call it "freedom to insult" and not freedom of speech !!

Anyway, the website is not blocked as far as I see.; 12 March, 2008 08:50
Kyle said...: @ Proud Emirati:

On the topic of freedom, insults, and speech, I recommend you an awesome read. Pick up Jean Sassoon’s Mayada. It’s a hip book about hospitality in Iraq’s Baladiyat.

Happy reading ;); 12 March, 2008 09:53
Dubai Entrepreneur said...: proud emirati,

Well, this is it. Speech can be insulting and offensive. I find your definition of free speech insulting. Bohoo! The fact that you see things differently from me vice versa makes it important to not define freedom of speech on your offend-o-meter.

This concept is very hard for this culture to fully grasp, as evident by your comment.

I rest my case.; 12 March, 2008 09:58
Proud Emirati said...: Dubai Entrepreneur, well, maybe, but u were the one who were expressing ur understanding of freedom of speech as the ideal only right way, as opposite to the middle eastern and Thais view of freedom of speech which is what I was mainly objecting!!; 12 March, 2008 10:18
Dubai Jazz said...: I totally agree with Keefieboy, people should be allowed to speak their minds as long as what they are saying doesn’t fall under the bracket of libel or slander.

HOWEVER, you should understand that the definition of ‘libel’ or ‘slander’ differs form place to another. And from one culture to another. For example: if I tipped a trashy tabloid magazine in Amsterdam that Mr. X (a Dutch celebrity) has been living and fornicating with Lady Y. for the last three years, very few people will view this story as offensive. Mr. X himself will not even bother.

While if you do that in the UAE, you will be sued for libel and other things: and unless you bring four witnesses, you might get a harsh punishment. Because in this society; if someone’s reputation is smeared by acts of fornication, he/she will suffer immensely. Unlike the Dutch celebrity.

Now having said; I wish SD gets unblocked, but I also wish she brings down her tone a little bit..; 12 March, 2008 11:19
m said...: on the surface this country projects itself to be progressive and liberal yet they will crush the voices of anyone who speaks against it.; 25 March, 2008 22:55
Anonymous said...: They say Dubai is the "City of the Future" or some such non-sense. Even people here say SD should be banned for being "offensive". Do you realize how stone aged this ideology is? How harmful to growth and prosperity it really is? Imagine in history, around the world, if people that were deemed "offensive" were banned?

Narrow minded. Here's a little rule to live by, if you think someone's opinion is "offensive", don't listen to it. If someone is writing something you disagree with, don't read it.

You want to be a progressive country? You're going to have to learn, the harder you clamp down, the more your populace want true freedom. Welcome to the information age, you CAN NOT STOP IT.

No wait, you know... crime will improve now that Du has adopted the draconian censorship rules to "protect us from ourselves". Now that we're under the wing of our moral superiors, we'll be happier people. Now that I can no longer access my resource for photo-journalism because *gasp* there might be a photo of a... wait for it... NIPPLE (THE HORROR!!!). I feel much safer.

Don't judge or question, they know better than you. Good job.

Layers of control.; 14 April, 2008 07:28