under this law for two weeks in March 2005 after
they were charged with defaming the king.
19
Bahrain’s Internet is regulated by legal infrastructure governing both access and available
content. The Telecommunications Regulatory
Authority (TRA), created by the 2002 Telecommunications Law, is tasked with liberalizing
Bahrain’s telecommunications market. More
specifically, the TRA seeks “to protect the interests of subscribers and users of telecommunications services and maintain effective and fair
competition between established and new
entrants to the telecommunications market of the
Kingdom of Bahrain.” 20 Two of the major initiatives set forth in the National Telecommunications
Plan of 2003, produced by the Minister of
Transportation in accordance with the Telecommunications Law of 2002, are the continued introduction of competition into the market through a
liberal licensing regime and the eventual divestment of the state’s shareholdings in Batelco. 21
The updated list of licensed entities is available at
www.tra.org.bh/en/LicensingCurrent.asp.
However, the Telecommunications Law of
2002 also contains penalties for illicit use of the
network, including the transmission of messages
that are offensive to public policy or morals. 22
A stipulation in the law allows “security organs to
have access to the network for fulfilling the
requirements of national security.” 23 Further, in
2005, the Ministry of Information decreed that all
Web sites within Bahrain and all sites external to
Bahrain containing content involving Bahraini
affairs must register with the government. 24 This
rule met with widespread resistance and has not
been put into practice. 25
ONI testing results
ONI ran in-country tests in 2006 on Bahrain’s ISP,
Batelco, using dialup as well as broadband
access points. Batelco was found to institute limited Internet filtering compared with the other Gulf
States. The testing found a broad range of topics
to be subject to filtering, including pornography;
gay and lesbian discussion; proxy and
anonymizing servers; Web sites that attempt to
convert Muslims to Christianity; Web sites that
are critical of the Bahraini government, parliament, and the ruling family, such as
www.bahraintimes.org and www.vob.org; and the
Web site www.rezgar.com, which has secular leftist Arabic content. However, the vast majority of
sites with content similar to these blocked sites
were not blocked, indicating that the filtration
regime is not comprehensive.
Unlike most of the Gulf States’ ISPs, Batelco
is not transparent about its blocking policy; users
do not always get a blockpage when they try to
access banned Web sites. For some blocked
Web sites, users receive error messages such as
“The page cannot be displayed.”
According to Reporters Without Borders,
Bahrain blocked access in October 2006 to
several Web sites that were critical of the government. Among these Web sites is the Bahrain
Center for Human Rights (www.bahrainrights.org)
and the popular blog www.mahmood.tv, which
openly criticizes the government and parliament
members. 26 Both sites were found to be accessible during ONI’s testing in November.
In August 2006, Bahrain banned access to
Google Earth for three days. Soon after the
blocking of Google Earth, cyberactivists circulated via e-mail a PDF file that annotated Google
Earth screenshots of Bahrain to highlight what
they claimed as the inequity of land distribution in
Bahrain. 27
Conclusion
Despite the broad range of topics that are filtered, Bahrain allows for relatively unfettered
access to the Internet, especially compared with
its neighbors. ONI found only very limited filtering
of pornography; gay and lesbian material; content
related to the conversion of Arab Muslims
to Christianity; criticism of the Bahraini government, parliament, and royal family; and secular
leftist Arabic content. This extremely light blocking
256
Country Summaries
they were charged with defaming the king.
19
Bahrain’s Internet is regulated by legal infrastructure governing both access and available
content. The Telecommunications Regulatory
Authority (TRA), created by the 2002 Telecommunications Law, is tasked with liberalizing
Bahrain’s telecommunications market. More
specifically, the TRA seeks “to protect the interests of subscribers and users of telecommunications services and maintain effective and fair
competition between established and new
entrants to the telecommunications market of the
Kingdom of Bahrain.” 20 Two of the major initiatives set forth in the National Telecommunications
Plan of 2003, produced by the Minister of
Transportation in accordance with the Telecommunications Law of 2002, are the continued introduction of competition into the market through a
liberal licensing regime and the eventual divestment of the state’s shareholdings in Batelco. 21
The updated list of licensed entities is available at
www.tra.org.bh/en/LicensingCurrent.asp.
However, the Telecommunications Law of
2002 also contains penalties for illicit use of the
network, including the transmission of messages
that are offensive to public policy or morals. 22
A stipulation in the law allows “security organs to
have access to the network for fulfilling the
requirements of national security.” 23 Further, in
2005, the Ministry of Information decreed that all
Web sites within Bahrain and all sites external to
Bahrain containing content involving Bahraini
affairs must register with the government. 24 This
rule met with widespread resistance and has not
been put into practice. 25
ONI testing results
ONI ran in-country tests in 2006 on Bahrain’s ISP,
Batelco, using dialup as well as broadband
access points. Batelco was found to institute limited Internet filtering compared with the other Gulf
States. The testing found a broad range of topics
to be subject to filtering, including pornography;
gay and lesbian discussion; proxy and
anonymizing servers; Web sites that attempt to
convert Muslims to Christianity; Web sites that
are critical of the Bahraini government, parliament, and the ruling family, such as
www.bahraintimes.org and www.vob.org; and the
Web site www.rezgar.com, which has secular leftist Arabic content. However, the vast majority of
sites with content similar to these blocked sites
were not blocked, indicating that the filtration
regime is not comprehensive.
Unlike most of the Gulf States’ ISPs, Batelco
is not transparent about its blocking policy; users
do not always get a blockpage when they try to
access banned Web sites. For some blocked
Web sites, users receive error messages such as
“The page cannot be displayed.”
According to Reporters Without Borders,
Bahrain blocked access in October 2006 to
several Web sites that were critical of the government. Among these Web sites is the Bahrain
Center for Human Rights (www.bahrainrights.org)
and the popular blog www.mahmood.tv, which
openly criticizes the government and parliament
members. 26 Both sites were found to be accessible during ONI’s testing in November.
In August 2006, Bahrain banned access to
Google Earth for three days. Soon after the
blocking of Google Earth, cyberactivists circulated via e-mail a PDF file that annotated Google
Earth screenshots of Bahrain to highlight what
they claimed as the inequity of land distribution in
Bahrain. 27
Conclusion
Despite the broad range of topics that are filtered, Bahrain allows for relatively unfettered
access to the Internet, especially compared with
its neighbors. ONI found only very limited filtering
of pornography; gay and lesbian material; content
related to the conversion of Arab Muslims
to Christianity; criticism of the Bahraini government, parliament, and royal family; and secular
leftist Arabic content. This extremely light blocking
256
Country Summaries