Internet Censorship Preserves Cultural Values

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Internet Censorship preserves cultural values in the UAE
It is undeniable that the Internet has played a vital role in shaping communities and transforming worldviews. It has been a tool for communication across languages and cultures, bridging gaps among races and an avenue for sharing knowledge and experience. Interestingly, this is the very reason why Internet usage has been controlled and subjected to close supervision by the government in many countries such as China, North Korea and even the UAE. Reasons for implementing such restriction include issues on national security and preservation of cultural values. Of the two, perhaps the more debatable reason this essay aims to discuss is the question: Does Internet censorship really preserve cultural values in the UAE?
Internet censorship in the UAE was formally implemented in November 2012, which caused a lot of dissent and uproar from the public. The law was approved during the time when the country was having its highest Internet usage rate and population penetration at 70.9% compared to 51.2% in 2007 (Ning Shen & Shakir 2009). Reasons of the government for implementing such law is to forbid people from ridiculing Islam, promoting unwanted demonstrations in the social media and prevent possible formation of terrorist groups online (International Business Times 14 Nov. 2012). Since internet censorship focuses on two areas: criticisms against the government and pornography, authorities also argue that this law is needed since a lot of sites are inconsistent with the cultural, religious, political, and moral values of the nation . Activists on the other hand tried to fight for freedom of expression but were eventually imposed...

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