Since Ministerial Order #1 of 2009 by the new minister of Information was issued, this list is woefully inadequate as the blocked sites in Bahrain now number in the hundreds if not the thousands due to the method of blocking employed (keyword, URL, description, etc). A campaign has been mounted by active bloggers in Bahrain who need your help to help yourself. Please go and sign the Petition Against Internet Censorship. The more people sign it, the more of a chance there is that this order will be rescinded.
PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS!
Go sign the petition against Internet censorship in Bahrain
Mahmood Al-Yousif
10 February 2009
[update 6 Aug, '08]
UNBLOCKED: ba7rainss.com blocked originally under Administrative Order number 2008/16 has been unblocked by the MoI on 24 July, ’08 “after the site owners agreed to abide by the law and not spread sectarian hatred” according to a report in Alwasat newspaper on 30 July, ’08
UNBLOCKED: bahrainforums.com blocked originally under Administrative Order number 2008/16 has been unblocked by the MoI on 24 July, ’08 “after the site owners agreed to abide by the law and not spread sectarian hatred” according to a report in Alwasat newspaper on 30 July, ’08
BLOCKED: vob.org of the Bahrain Freedom Movement was added to the list as a verified blocked site.
[updated 31 July 08 - Tested the following sites through a Zain@Home internet connection]
3radnet.com – works
aafaq.org – works
ahraralbahrain.com – abandoned
albawaba.com – works
aldair.net – works
aldemokrati.org – works
alduraz.net – blocked
alhiyak.net – abandoned
alialasghar.net – works
almahfood.com – blocked
althaqlain.com – works
alsaheefa.net – works
annaqed.com – works
arabchurch.com – works
arabtimes.com – works
awaal.net – blocked
bab-albahrain.net – works
bahrainonline.org – works
bahrainrights.org – works
bahraintimes.org – blocked
bander.allfreehost.net – abandoned
bchr.net – works
bintjbeil.org – works
benkerishan.com – blocked
benkerishan.blogspot.com – blocked
bhteachers.org – works
eskanaali.com – blocked
freecopts.net – works
haaq.org – blocked
hrinfo.net – blocked
juffair.com – works
karbabadiat.net – works
karzakan.com – works
kurdtimes.com – works
ladeeni.net – works
malkiya.net – works
members.tripod.com/bahrain3 – blocked
montadayat.org – works
nasr-b.com – works
playboy.com – works
rezgar.com – works
sex.com – works
shahrakkan.org – abandoned
shaheedbh.com – abandoned
tubli.net – abandoned
vob.org – works
wattani.net – works
yahosein.com – works
[UPDATE 3 Aug 08]
Instructions to unblock both aldair.net and saronline.org has been issued on July 30th, 2008 under Administrative Order number 2008/193.
Instructions to block wattaninet.net has been issued on July 31st, 2008 under Administrative Order number 2008/193.
Admin Order for wattaninet.net updated in the table above. saronline.org was not listed in our table. aldair.net removed. Total known sites blocked now stand at 38.
I have just tried aldair.net, bahrainonline, bahrain4u.com, and 208.100.39.36/index.php on Zain e-go and found them all blocked. I need to test the rest.
Thanks Hussain.
Can someone on Batelco’s network test
bhteachers.org
ladeeni.net
tubli.net
and as much of the list I’ve tested with Zain and let us know the result?
much more important, we need to get the admin order numbers for as many of the above sites as possible.
All three work, but the last one has a generic portal thingy on it.
Thanks Loki, so tubli.net has been abandoned or does it’s content seem genuine still?
No its got generic content. Hotel reservations. get a car, etc. ONe of them auto-generated portals. Dead as a dodo if you ask me.
Thanks Loki, so it’s been abandoned. I’ll mark it as such.
Thanks for putting this list together. It’s probably the most current and upto date ‘blacklist’ in the country!
Perhaps at the bottom somewhere you can include instructions on alternative ways to view the sites? I remember you had a work around some time ago which was pretty nify, you had to simply add something to the end of the URL or something.
nyud.net:8090
and when they block that, there are many more ways to get through!
Mahmood,
MP Abdul Haleem Murad wants Facebook banned as it is “against Islamic teachings”.
Do you think it’s nothing more than hot air?
Link
To him it might not be hot air, to everyone else in the world it is, and it has an unhealthy odour too.
Like any gaseous discharge, it too will eventually dissipate.
Your checking if Playboy.com is blocked or not?? Eshlah?
There’s allot of inconsistency (not surprisingly) between what sites are blocked by what ISPs.
Sex.com and Playboy.com are both blocked on Batelco’s network.
Mahmood, should such sites not be added to the “blocked” list even if the ISP in question has taken it upon themselves to block the sites with no administrative order from the powers that be?
The reason I check whether these sites being blocked is academic and the results are used for the compilation of an annual index which helps categorise Bahrain’s internet activities.
This particular list, for instance, is the one used by RSF in the past couple of years. From it (and others) one can deduce the trend – if any – of censorship ideology.
playboy.com is open through Zain
sex.com redirects to a sex search portal – again, open through Zain
I understand, but it makes it rather difficult to compile a list when such blockages aren’t imposed/applied uniformly.
Considering the vast majority of internet users in the country get online via Batelco dialup & broadband, shouldn’t a Batelco internet connection be used as the test bed for verifying which sites are blocked?
Yes I agree, I have tried to do that by eliciting responses from people who connect using the various service providers in Bahrain and have noted them. For an exhaustive test of these sites, I would go through the service provider’s own proxy servers to ensure an accurate result. I just didn’t have the time to go through them with a fine tooth comb yet. Having said that, you will notice that the main table is Batelco-based.
On the subjects of blocked sites, the current ministry approach is this:
We inform BIX (Bahrain Internet Exchange).
We inform Batelco.
We do NOT inform the Regulator.
We do NOT inform anyone else.
BIX is kindly informing all it’s members of the block requests but since BIX has no authority to request site blocks and since the ministry has NOT made a public decision or order to the BIX members to allow BIX to dictate what sites are to be blocked or not, it is up to individual ISPs to decide what falls within the requirements of the law and what does not.
You want more fun? Here it is: The Ministry said we don’t CARE about blocking porn sites. All porn sites should be blocked but we are too busy to tell you what is a porn site and what is not so please, all ISPs out there, use your best efforts.
BUT we do care about what may be considered free speech, rightly or not. And we WILL spend resources trying to catch every site and every derivative of such sites and we WILL order those blocks. However, we don’t want to follow the pre-approved process under the law. We are the ministry. We’ll do it our way. Even if it does not work.
Mahmood, long time
Hope you’re doing well.
Thanks mahmood
Ladeeni.com Blocked
Tubli.net On Parking (by domain owner)
Bhteachers.org Live.
I’m using Bateclo Unlimited Business Landline..