Although the United Arab Emirates or the UAE as it is commonly referred to is one of the more liberal countries in the Arab region, it still faces heavy governmental influence.
All of the country's media is either owned or influenced by the government and the laws of the land strictly prohibit criticism against the government or any of the ruling parties.
Domestic and foreign news are censored before they are printed or broadcast and the government reserves the right to alter any story to fit its needs.
Almost all of the television networks, there are 15 of them, are owned by either the government or media conglomerates who are heavily influenced by the government.
Internet use in the country has become widespread with over 37 percent of the population online. However, the ONLY internet service provider is Etisalat (a government-operated telecommunications conglomerate). Online sites are heavily regulated and unauthorized sites tell the user that the contents of these sites are against the cultural and moral values of the country.
Newspapers are also a huge tool of the government and often provided fluff PR pieces instead of hard-hitting investigative news.
Reporters Without Borders ranked the country #65 on its press freedom list and Freedom House labeled the media not free.
I hope that you take a moment to visit the following links because they take you to two of the major newspapers in the country. Read a few of the stories and you can immediately tell that criticism of the government is non-existent and that most of the stories about the country are very positive.
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