21 December, 2009

Facebook... Big Brother again?

Can't access it. Not a computer issue or location issue. As far as I can tell Facebook access via Etisalat is down. Are they up to their block shenanigans again? Probably. I can confirm that it is possible to access Facebook in a roundabout way which I prefer not to elaborate on, so that suggests that there is no problem with Facebook itself.

Any New Dubai residents on the Du network care to comment? Are you guys still getting Facebook?

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey there bro im network specialist i work in networking shop in ad as far as i know etisalat banned facebook but noot officially (or there is some network problem) i checked it via software i connected form uae as i am in us and facebook opened but when i connected from uae network
didnt open so im sure thats from etisalat
i got solution if u want contact me

majhool-rap@hotmail.com

thanks for post

Unknown said...

i can access it from my blackberry, which is also etisalat, but not from my computer. please, please, share the roundabout way as i truly need to log on asap. thank you so much.

Anonymous said...

No, still can't access Facebook (since this morning)!

Anonymous said...

Nope, can't access Facebook since this morning...

Anonymous said...

Phoned Etisalat this morning and yes, it's them......proxy probs! They don't know how long this will take to rectify..no surprise there then!

Lhjunkie said...

It's working fine on Du for me.

Anonymous said...

Good, society will be much cleaner and safer now that the evils of Facebook have been blocked.
If only they could block the whole web, then most problems in Dubai would go away (negative media, people using emails for illicit affairs).
We didnt do badly without the internet (before 1995), did we ?

Unknown said...

Its fine here, slow but so is everything else. I'm on Duh on the 'puter but phone is etisalat and it works there too. So far....

Dubai Jazz said...

what is facebook?

Anonymous said...

Facebook works for Du users.

Gulf News does not seem to work on Etisalat either.

samuraisam said...

Facebook works fine on Etisalat.

If the site were blocked then you'd get a blocked page screen.

Make sure you have the proxy properly set on your browser otherwise it won't work properly.

Foreigner at home said...

Facebook is working now... @5AM UTC time.

Facebook traffic seemed to be blocked at the http level, ping trace did return the response. Also, its the main site that seems to be blocked where as the mobile site i.e. http://m.blackberry.com was ok.

Also had issues with yahoo not loading properly. Only the html part was downloaded.

My verdict - It was a false positive on the filtering system they have. Could be because of an update and / or configuration changes on the system.

@dalija - The blackberry uses a completely different network from ADSL internet. It is not connected to the same filtering system. That is the reason you are able to log in using the device.

B.D. said...

It is back now, but it was offline, I was estimate for about 20 hrs--from early afternoon yesterday to sometime before 9 a.m. this morning.

It was not computer settings as one minute it worked and the next it didn't--also tried it on various computers, various locations (cities) in the UAE. Facebook badges also would not load on non-Facebook pages.

The banned notice did not come up, but if they TRA, Etisalat, et al. can block sites they can also put up their little banner or not put it up as they so please.

Kyle said...

A take on Facebook here.

Courtesy: Mashable

Mita said...

I have been reliably told that if you use https in your URL for facebook - it should work anywhere including Etisalat. Its not blocked. No problems here in Du.

Anonymous said...

I don't get it. It went down again! D:

Hammad said...

I did receive the typical "This site is blocked" Page while accessing Facebook from Etisalat today.

However, since then i an able to access it with 70% of the time. other 30% of the times it says, "the connection with the server is reset"

Em said...

Facebook is now blocked by Etisalat, including the screenshot. Why they would do something so silly - even Sheikh Mohammed is on FB!!!

*shakes head in disbelief*

Anonymous said...

Yep... another example of the UAE walking out of the time with the rest of the world. Media and free information censorship, a shocking record of human rights abuse, non-existent labour laws and protection, one of the world's worst polluters, a legal system that is neither fair nor transparent etc etc etc. I hope Dubai and Abu Dhabi sink into the desert. Horrible place to live - no one would even think about the place, let alone choose to live there if it weren't for oil.

Unknown said...

@anonymous from December 27th

just move out than or do not bite the hand feeding you.....i can asure you there are waaaaaay worst places than uae in the world.

facebook and etisalat are minor issues, and hopefully they will be resolved soon........or someone will help me figure out the way to work around it ;-)

coolasice said...

like the rest, im also still having problems connecting to facebook via etisalat ISP at home. even at the office, it doesnt work. what only works is connecting via wifi iphone but cant access/play the games. hope etisalat would be able to resolve the connection issues soon.

Spear The Almighty said...

I also have no Fb via Etisalat. I can access it via my Nokia but that is it. I also have issues seeing Gulf News and other normal harmless sites. I don't think Etisalat blocked Facebook, but they have some technical issues going on.

Anonymous said...

etisalat should resolve this issue immediately, so that we can get our money's worth....

linn said...

Thank you. Now I finally know what on earth is going on. But who will benefit by blocking the world's largest and most popular networking site?? Etisalat is only getting pissed off costumers that they have to deal with and if anything they will lose money. At the same time it is sort of ironic since etisalat us advertising for eLife, which facebook is part of. Once again, this country makes little sense to me.

Anonymous said...

تم حفظ تعليقاتك وستكون معروضة بعد موافقة مالك المدونة الإلكترونية
etisalat sucks :@
cant access facebook full or mobile from 4 days

nzm said...

Apparently, it's all to do with an upgrade of Etisalat's network.

You can read all about it in The National.

Anonymous said...

Please, etisalat, don't do this to us. I need fb to keep in touch with my friends back home. Really, if you are worried about people doing illicit things it is a social problem- not one that will be rectified by blocking a benign website like facebook. This will only serve to upset your vast expat populations who you depend on for many things, and make the UAE look backward and controlling.

Anonymous said...

Seriously, Etisalat should spend more time sorting out online fraud, and less time interfering in people's lives. Really upsetting for someone who lives outside their home country, and has to use fb to keep in touch. Skype is already banned, as it competes with etisalat's high tariffs for international calls- how is a low-earning immigrant supposed to keep in touch with friends an family? For shame, Etisalat. For SHAME.

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