French report highlights censorship on Internet in UAE

The report of the French news agency highlighted the ruling regime in the UAE imposing tight control on the Internet in light of the state’s widespread investment in new technologies and artificial intelligence.

The report pointed to the controversy caused by a recent correspondence application in the Emirates, which highlighted the strict monitoring of the Internet in a country known to crush any opposition and impose severe restrictions on freedoms.

Dubai hosts the regional offices of a number of Internet giant groups such as Google and YouTube, and most public services can be accessed via the Internet.

Advertising banners in the city streets around the “Expo 2020” hosted by the emirate show pictures of robots and space men.

But for millions of foreign residents, making calls through the “WhatsApp” or “Skype” app with their families outside the UAE is not a simple matter. Free calls, widely spread all over the world, are still prohibited in the UAE.

“To be able to contact my family, I buy this card every month,” said a Pakistani worker in Dubai. The operator displays the card that contains a virtual private network access code (VPN), a system that allows to circumvent the blocking.

In order to avoid this “headache”, others chose to use the “TikTok” application, which was designed by an Emirati company to communicate with their families.

An Egyptian worker confirms that he prefers to use this application to communicate with his wife and daughters who stayed in his country, explaining, “Use Tik Tok because it is the only application in which video calls work correctly.”

“Tik Tok” has seen a boom in the Middle East, where several countries impose restrictions or even prevent most of the communication services through applications such as WhatsApp.

But the platforms “Apple” and “Google” removed the application after the publication of the New York Times American report accusing the UAE intelligence services of direct access to messages and conversations via video or even data related to the geographic location of the phone holder, in addition to access to camera phones and microphones.

In January, the custodians of the application announced its inclusion again on the “Google Play Store” after a series of “updates” for the application, especially a more clear mechanism that allows users to allow the application access to their data and phone number lists.

Tik Tok is still not available on the Apple Store.

According to researcher at Citizen Lab, a cyber-security specialist, Bill Marzak, “Apple” is “more respectful of customer privacy”.

Marzac notes that the Tototok case is “unique” of its kind “because they are trying to develop this application that was designed for use by millions of people in the world.”

“As far as I know, this is the only case where there is a messaging app developed by an intelligence agency,” he explains.

Marzak believes that the UAE may move towards what he described as the “Chinese model” of digital bullying represented in the desire to become a force in the field of technology, but it also uses it as a tool for control and control.

The UAE telecom regulations prohibit illegal penetration and group surveillance in any way, but the ruling regime publicly violates this and imposes severe restrictions on content posted online.

The American non-governmental organization Freedom House classifies the Internet in the UAE as “non-free,” noting that there are “restrictions, control and supervision” on the Internet because of “close links between the government and telecom companies.”

“The UAE is exercising a high degree of restrictions and online surveillance,” said Freedom House Amy Sleepwitz, research coordinator. “They should be more transparent about restricting the content and refraining from targeting government critics,” she added.

UAE law prohibits the use of the Internet with the aim of “planning, organizing, promoting, or calling for demonstrations or marches” or “inciting entry to other than the religion of Islam” or “calling for the conversion or promotion of destructive principles such as homosexuality or homosexuality.”

In December 2018, a UAE court confirmed the imprisonment of Emirati human rights activist Ahmed Mansour for a period of ten years on the grounds of criticizing the authorities via social media.