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Feedback Sought Over Block on Flickr

DUBAI - A censorship watchdog is encouraging the public to give feedback over the blocking of photo-sharing web site Flickr.

Last week Internet provider du joined rival Etisalat in blocking the web site to thousands of homes across the UAE. A statement by the Telecommunications and Regulatory Authority (TRA) said that “technical difficulties” had prevented du from following the ban two years before.

“Flickr breaches the prohibited content categories of the Internet Access Management (IAM) policy regarding sexual nudity,” the statement said.

“It does not have the technical facility of blocking prohibited contents, and it cannot be partially blocked; where such facility is available on YouTube, Facebook and other similar sites.”

Users of Flickr said the site contained images of ‘artistic nudity’ which could have been construed as pornography. du and Etisalat have been asked by the TRA to allow customers to give their thoughts on whether the level of censorship is appropriate.

“Since the TRA issued the IAM policy around 1,000 blocked web sites were unblocked - Flickr was not one of them,” the statement said, adding that 73 per cent were blocked due to pornography and nudity.

martin@khaleejtimes.com