A Foot In Each World

The Emirates now has one strike against it. The country with all of its progressiveness blocks certain websites, one of which is Flickr, my photo storage site. Flickr filters content on its own so I was surprised when I found out that it was on the Emirates’ restricted list.

I was speaking with several people last night and they were commenting about all of the rules that apparently exist here in the Emirates. Many of these limitations, like website filtering for instance, are based on religious and cultural beliefs founded in less progressive and developed times.

The Emirates on the surface looks to be the world’s model for development, but a closer look revels a country that is struggling with two different realities. Certainly the new infrastructure breathtaking but society remains hindered by a quiet cultural and religious authoritarianism that permeates everyday life. It’s a trade off I suppose. You can access the Net from just about anyplace in Dubai, but you’re limited as to what you can view.