DEAR VICE - BANNED IN ARABIA
Dear Vice,
I'm on holiday in Dubai [Viceland readership: 49] and I was trying to look at your site, but this flashed up on my screen and made me feel ashamed.
GUNTER
Dear Vice,
Right now I'm in Qatar [Viceland readership: 5] and I got this message when trying to log onto your site.
HECTOR
To find out if we're getting blocked across the whole region we asked a buddy in Iran if he could see the site. He sent us this...
Dear Vice,
Anyone in Iran [Viceland readership: 21] who wants to read Vice online or any other site blocked by the Islamic government of Iran just has to get an anti-filter program called a Filter-Shekan. Whenever the government fix one hole, the kids in Tehran just email or text each other a new Filter-Shekan.
Weird thing is, it’s an American company that sells the Iranian government (China's too) the internet filters they use. So while US sanctions on Iran prevent foreign companies from selling us drugs and medicines, they do not stop them from selling tools of repression to our government, or, for that matter, Marlboros and Coca-Cola to our people. If you are really pissed off that your website cannot be viewed in the Middle East then you should take it upwith somebody in Silicon Valley.
AHMADINEJAD AHOLE
See? You guys should have never made Muhammad a don't.
Posted by: Mr. Children | 13/02/2008 at 17:38
There's nothing tall enough in the Silicon Valley to fly a plane into.
Posted by: Eli! | 13/02/2008 at 20:25
iran is cool, it's the islamist muslim fundamentalists that aren't!
Posted by: muthafutha | 13/02/2008 at 20:36
oohhh the hypocrisy!! I just choked on my alco poop in outrage.
Posted by: | 14/02/2008 at 00:32
I was just working in Dubai for a few weeks and heard many weird stories.
Apparently they censor all kinds of films in all kinds of weird ways.
The funniest story is that Pulp Fiction's altered timeline freaked them out so much that they re-edited it into chronological sequence. They also entirely cut Morgan Freeman out of Bruce Almighty and then showed this film that was like 40mins long.
Posted by: Andrew | 14/02/2008 at 12:54
Vice is also (surprice) banned in Saudi Arabia. You can get access with these proxy service sites that are free on the net, but it kinda messes up the site and makes it not worth your while.
Posted by: Lars | 24/02/2008 at 13:11