Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt block The New Arab

A statement by The New Arab on the decision taken by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt to block public access to both its Arabic and English websites.

Analysis

3 min read

The New Arab

31 December, 2015

Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt have blocked The New Arab website.

The authorities of three Arab states have blocked public access to The New Arab website and its Arabic sister site al-Araby al-Jadeed in a surprise move that came with no prior warning or explanation.

The decision was taken last week by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Culture and Media to block our website, followed by the United Arab Emirates a few days later and the Egyptian authorities yesterday.

This move goes against everything The New Arab stands for and represents, especially the principles of democracy, human rights and liberty.

Our news and opinion pieces, as well as our continued coverage of developments and issues, have upheld truth and provided an open space for discussion and the exchange of opinions.

We feel that we have been successful in all of these, and the recent upsurge of activity on social media sites following the barring of our website that expressed support for us can been seen via the Arabic hashtag حجب_العربي_الجديد#

This move goes against everything The New Arab stands for and represents, especially the principles of democracy, human rights and liberty.

We condemn this regrettable act of censorship by the governments of Saudi Arabia, Emirates and Egypt as we have always aimed to provide a platform for different political ideas and social change in a responsible and respectful manner, abiding by the highest professional ethics, ensuring that we do not deceive our readers.

Since the launch of The New Arab website over a year ago, we have resolutely stuck to these principles. As a result, The New Arab established itself in a prominent position at the heart of Arab online news and media.

The New Arab established itself in a prominent position at the heart of Arab online news and media.

We now have regular audiences in the millions from the region and the wider international community. We have a duty towards them in continuing the work we do and believe that readers from the region, including the countries that blocked us, appreciate our work and believe in what we do.

As the authorities of three Arab states unite in blocking access to The New Arab, for reasons unknown to us, we will continue to hold onto the values of freedom, democracy, civil dialogue and liberty, and the right to citizenship and social justice in every Arab country.

We would have hoped that decision makers in the three countries would have appreciated the importance of a professional and independent media in reporting on issues that matter to their citizens.

Unfortunately censorship was used to prohibit any kind of interaction with us, not realising that such a move is futile in this day and age.

Our audiences, in their search for truth and the values we abide by, will always find a way to access our content.