The poll taken by Gulf News is to be seen as a slap on it's face by its readers. The figures speaks for itself. Many users of the social networking site have been dismayed and angered by the over zealous reporting stance taken by Gulf News to highlight one particular adult community on the site and getting it blocked. According to wikipedia.org, Orkut has over 49 millions users and is the eight most visited site in the world.
"Orkut had been blocked before in the UAE, and was later unblocked after many users complained. The TRA spokesman said the TRA had never ordered that unblocking.
Orkut users each have their own profile and can choose to become a member of particular online communities. While some such communities are innocuous, being related to particular hobbies or schools, there are sex communities, including one called "Dubai Sex" that has more than 2,000 members.
A spokesperson for Google, the site's owner said: "We're disappointed that Orkut is being blocked because it's a great way for people to meet, socialise and share interests. We will be reaching out to the authorities to try to resolve this."
I would have no problem if Etisalat the internet service provider had directly blocked the site as it has done on earlier occasions and still does with several other social networking sites. But I am ticked off when my newspaper instead of focusing on the real news around, starts becoming the moral police. Blocking an entire site just because of a single offensive community out of the millions seems to be Dubai adult oriented.
Gulf News perhaps needs to write more articles advocating the blocking of Telephone lines and the Internet because after all it is a medium through which pornography and piracy of movies and music exist worldwide. Let's all go back to the days of a government censor reading your postal mail and blacking out words which may be considered inappropriate.
Read the numbers Gulf News! 80.36 disagree with your actions in highlighting adult communities on Orkut and getting it blocked. Maybe you would want to consider a public apology and a campaign to get it unblocked.
“The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.” ~ Henry Steele Commager (American Historian).
Related Articles:
Orkut.com 'being used for immoral activities' - Gulf News
Orkut.com banned in the UAE - Gulf News
Google defends Orkut against comments -Gulf News
Orkut users should report offensive material - Google - Gulf News
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