Is Skype blocked in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)?
It has been brought to our attention that our website has been blocked by one or more ISPs in the United Arab Emirates. Unfortunately there is very little Skype can do about this situation. The best course of action would be for you to speak to your ISP and ask why they are blocking Skype and request that they unblock our site.
This is the answer furnished by Skype support to explain the blocking of the software in the United Arab Emirates. The Emirates operate a strong internet censorship. Here are some details about it.
The internet censorship in the UAE
In the country, the censorship is centered on two major themes:
- Pornography, which is well accepted from the multi-national majority of the population
- Criticism of the Gulf government, this second censorship can be discussed.
Sites like www.uaeprison.com or www.arabtimes.com give a summary of the blocking sites. If you try to access them from the UAE, you will see the following message :”due to its content being inconsistent with the religious, cultural, political and moral values of the United Arab Emirates.”
Perhaps one of the biggest inconvenience for the expatriate population in the Emirates is the inaccessibility of internet telephony sites like www.skype.com. According to the BBC, ”This is widely seen as economic censorship; the state wanting to ensure continuing large profits through migrant workers making international telephone calls.”
Nevertheless there is still a way to bypass the censorship and to access to Skype though.
How to unblock Skype in the UAE?
The solution consists of switching your online identity to appear as a foreigner and to have granted access to skype.com.
The Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a way to change your IP according to the VPN server you have selected. It creates an encrypted connection between your computer and the server. All your datas and tracks are hidden. You benefit from a total privacy and anonymity.
Thus the blocking system of the UAE isn’t able to track you, all the access to the blocked websites are granted.
Finding the best VPN service to unblock Skype in the UAE
1. Find the best provider according to your needs:
- The server locations: choose a provider which has the closest servers, in order to give you the best connection speed
- The VPN protocol: the offers with OpenVPN will provides you an increased privacy and anonymity.
2. Setup the application
3. Connect to a VPN server
4. Freely enjoy your communications on Skype
Top 3 best VPN providers to unblock Skype in the UAE
Bottom line
Using a VPN service in the United Arab Emirates opens a new world of opportunities and a stress free browsing by ensuring you a total online privacy.
Wether you are expatriates or UAE resident, you also will be able to enjoy multiple entertainment sites as Hulu or Netflix.
I use boxpn vpn for skype in UAE. It works great on my iPhone and pc.
It is shameful that such a place like Dubai, a world’s commercial centre, places such restrictions on something that has become vital to everyone, where a business or private.
I am travelling soon to Dubai and I heard a lot of magnificent stories about it, but from what I am reading on-line…. I think I am starting to wake up from a dream.