UAE BlackBerry Ban: Security or Censorship?
If you are one of the 500,000 BlackBerry users living in the UAE it may be time to start shopping for a new cellular service provider. On Sunday, the UAE stated that as of October 11 BlackBerry features such as email, web-browsing, and messaging services will be suspended. The chief of the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulation Authority, Mohammed al-Ghanem, cited security concerns as the reason for the suspension of services.
Part of BlackBerry’s popularity stems from its secure encryption technology, which the UAE government claims is in direct defiance of local telecommunication regulations. BlackBerry users have been told they can utilize the services of another company, Etisalat, for alternative services that meet local regulations. The ban on BlackBerry services is reportedly going to last until the BlackBerry applications under scrutiny are in full compliance with the regulations in the UAE. The ban will likely also apply to foreign travelers in the UAE who use BlackBerry devices.
Critics of the ban claim the decision is an attempt to monitor communications in countries that are accustomed to controlling the flow of information to its citizens. John Palfrey, an Internet law professor at Harvard, stated that the long-term goal of the suspension is to control the information environment in which citizens of the UAE live.
If censorship is indeed the motive for the suspension, it is unlikely this information will ever be made public. The government of the UAE is too intelligent to subject itself to the fire it would be placed under should that ever be the case. That being said, is it a battle worth fighting? Slanderous statements against the UAE will not produce any noticeable gains. In my opinion, any further developments in this story will only lead to further speculation, and never any real answers.
