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Facebook users face Orkut fears

DUBAI — Net surfers in the UAE have said they were not being able to gain access to Facebook, the social networking web site, and were apprehensive that like Orkut, it might have been banned too.

A number of Facebook users said that in the past two days, whenever they tried to log on to the site an error message flashed on their screens.

“After the ban on Orkut (a similar web site) three months ago, I am afraid Facebook too has been banned in the UAE as I have not been able to log on to it for at least two days,” said Mark Porter, a Dubai resident.

In fact, it was after the ban of Orkut that many users shifted to Facebook.

“I am connected through this website (Facebook) to all my friends around the globe now. Earlier, we were using Orkut. So when I was unable to access it, I presumed Facebook might have been banned by the service provider -in my case- Etisalat,” said Ahmed Saleem.

However, Etisalat has denied that the web site has been banned. A senior Etisalat official has said that any such decision is taken only by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). “There was some connectivity problem for a couple of days, but the web site is accessible now. If there is a ban, a red message of Etisalat flashes across the screen saying the site cannot be accessed. However, any decision on banning of a website is taken by TRA, not by the service provider,” the official pointed out.

When contacted, a TRA official also confirmed that the website had not been blocked. “We have been receiving calls from users, but the website has not been banned. There might be a problem with the service provider. Net surfers can use the du network to access the site if they are having problem with Etisalat.”