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[Stylinexpat]

http://arabianmoney.net/2010/01/16/uae- ... -comments/

The unfortunate side of censorship is from critics that wish to silence the people. Of all the countries I have travelled to I have found that Taiwan's media offers more freedom than pretty much any other country out there. The censorship of media in the middle-east along with the censorship of forums and blogs in most middle-eastern countries (Dubai being no exception) is like that of China or Burma in Asia.

[Dr Strangeglove]

Given the details of the case, I have to say that I think the court ruling is correct. Whilst forums should be open to for people to air opinions, this should not include libel and slander.

Basically, if you're going to talk about someone, or claim something, it should always be true. That's ostensibly what they're saying.

[Stylinexpat]

That all depends on what you consider libel and slander. Talking about China's censorship could considered libel and slander by the Chinese which also would be the same in Saudi,Iran or even the UAE. This is the same reason these 3 countries I named as examples only do not have or sell gossip magazines and papers. In the US we have the National Enquirer just to name 1 example. In the UK they have the Daily Mirror so if everyone cried libel and slander we would have no gossip magazines,papers and public internet forums.

Our Forums would look like they look in Iran,Saudi and the UAE to name a few examples. Silencing people never works in the long run these days. You end up with a forum or blog where few people post and see posts constantly deleted and locked. Some of these issues were covered in the last Debate in Doha from another post in this forum.

[BlackburnRovers]

In some countries, like North korea, even true statements can be considered libel.

The fact is that in some cultures "honor", and "reputation" are more important than anything else. So in extreme cases, a murderer will claim that he was "defamed" when the victims family cursed him.

[Dr Strangeglove]

Yes I appreciate that it's a slippery debate, but I was referring to the legal definitions of both terms.

In the US, the law is slightly different and to some degree protects those companies publishing gossip. Basically, if a person is considered a public figure, they're fair game. They can still sue, but the chances are they won't be successful unless what is printed is truly defaming. Whereas in the UK, even public figures are prevented by the legal definitions of libel and slander.

This has actually created a mini-economy in libel litigation in the UK. Where if a famous person is the victim of libel (even from a story in the US, which is then reprinted in the UK) they can sue in the UK and they are much more likely to win damages.

I'm not sure how the UAE's laws work in this respect, and given the disgraceful way in which we've seen their 'justice' perverted, I couldn't care less.