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  •   Thu, Jul 05 2007 10:59:03 AM

Controversial website Orkut.com Banned in the UAE

With inputs from Gulf News


Dubai, Jul 5: Controversial website Orkut.com has been blocked in the UAE after Gulf News highlighted the concerns of readers that it contains sexually explicit material.

Etisalat banned the site yesterday on the orders of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).

Gulf News, UAE's English daily has recently published readers opinion to ban Orkut because they feared people were using the site to find sexual partners.

"After the TRA was contacted by Gulf News, they went into this site and found out that it should be blocked," Quoted Gulf News daily

"Immediately they issued a formal letter to the Internet Service Providers in the UAE to block this site." The letter was sent to Etisalat, the UAE's main Internet Service Provider, by the TRA's Director of Technical Affairs, Mohammad Geyath.

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.


Orkut will not have illegal content - Google Official

RIO DE JANERIO, Jul 5: Google Inc and the Federal Prosecution Office of Brazil's northeast Ceara state have signed an agreement to remove offensive and illegal contents from the social network website Orkut.

The prosecution office will be able to access an exclusive web page that will help it request the removal of contents regarded as offensive or illegal. The service will also allow the entity to preserve any kind of information that can be useful to investigation of illegal activities. Google is committed to fulfilling the office’s demands within a day.

In 2006, the Federal Prosecution Office charged Google with not cooperating with police and refusing to provide information on users' profiles and communities hosted by Orkut, almost forcing the US group to close down its office in Brazil. Google has signed agreements with prosecution offices in several Brazilian states to facilitate the settlement of problems with the judicial system. 

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Comment on this article

  • Dash, Mangalore

    Sat, Jul 07 2007

    What is so controversial about orkut?

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse

  • davin, doha

    Fri, Jul 06 2007

    It's a good move...

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse

  • Colin, Dubai

    Thu, Jul 05 2007

    I personally feel such a step is taken more in haste than with wisdom. The internet is a tool of mass usage and the presence of such characters is something that cannot be stopped. Coming to Orkut, it ranks amongst the No. 1 sites in India and the world when it comes to social networking.

    I have personally used it to keep track of my friends all over the world. It was a medium of connecting with my classmates & friends & family who were with me way back to my toddler years. Etisalat/TRA has been playing Big Brother for quite some time now (Which has become part and parcel of most of us living in this part of the world).

    Ultimately its all about choice. If one wants to go the obscene pages available he/she may very well do so, but blocking a site just for the reason that there are sub pages that are used for immoral activities is not acceptable. The more restriction you put, the people will find alternate ways to access them. Parents should keep a tab on what their kids have access to and are using, and a general awareness of such activities should be the norm.

    Finally I am not complaining, as I have my medium of accessing the site. And for the rest.. All the best!!

    DisAgree Agree Reply Report Abuse


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