UAE, Saudi among world's top website censors - project

by Neeraj Gangal

The UAE ranks high among countries that have blocked most websites, a recent report has revealed.

Internet users in the country reported the eleventh highest rate of blocked websites from among the countries in the world, according to the Herdict project.

Herdict is a project of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. It seeks to gain insight into what users around the world are experiencing in terms of web accessibility. As on June 12, 11am UAE time, UAE users reported that 509 different webpages were flagged as “inaccessible”, the Herdict Web project statistics revealed.

China is the most reported country when it comes to website censorship, according to the report. From among the Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia ranked at No.4. and Bahrain at No.6 in the top 10 slots.

A noteworthy aspect of the report is that the Western countries were equally vigilant about restricting websites. Germany was ranked at No.2, US at No.3, France at No.7, Australia at No.8 and the UK at No.9.

According to the www.herdict.org website, Herdict is a portmanteau of 'herd' and 'verdict' and seeks to show the verdict of the users (the herd).
Speaking to the UAE’s The National newspaper, Jillian York, the social media manager for the project said that the websites that were found by UAE users to have been blocked ranged from pornography and dating websites to religious pages.

“But then, you also get some sites where you’ve got to wonder why they’re blocked – like Flickr.”

Top 10 countries that reported the most-restricted sites as on June 12, 11am, UAE time:

1. China (4,969)
2. Germany (6,972)
3. United States (5,162)
4. Saudi Arabia (2,364)
5. Iran (990)
6. Bahrain (1,004)
7. France (1,530)
8. Australia (911)
9. United Kingdom (1,237)
10. Philippines (909)

Bahraini Islamic bank eyes France

Bahrain-based Islamic lender Al Baraka Banking Group said on Wednesday it planned to enter the French market to tap into Western Europe's largest Muslim community.

The penetration of Muslim populations in European countries is seen as a key element for future growth of the nascent Islamic finance industry, but penetration has been slowed by the need for national regulation to cover Islamic product structures.

France is currently changing its legal system to allow Islamic financial institutions to provide services to its 5 million Muslims.

Al Baraka's units in North Africa are planning tie-ups with French partners to "establish Islamic banking in France", it said in a statement on the Nasdaq Dubai, where it is also listed.
"However, there are no agreements entered into up to now, (nor any) legal arrangements being processed," it said.

Paris Europlace, the body promoting Paris as a financial centre, told Reuters' Islamic Finance Summit last week that France would license its first Islamic bank by end-June.

Gilles Saint Marc, chairman of the body's Islamic finance committee, said a licence application was placed in early March and that the bank was likely to launch with 40 million euros in capital raised from investors in Bahrain and Qatar.

A French financial institution plans to sell a 1 billion euro ($1.32 billion) sukuk this year, marking the first issuance of Islamic corporate debt in Europe.
Source : Reuters