The authorities officially asked Hiscock to "restrict content that is pornographic, mocks religions, strengthens atheism, promotes new religions, fosters a feeling of insecurity or is unsuitable for young children".
No, that's not a line from the script for Really Big Brother, the new satirical adult film recently released by Hustler.
It's from the Doha Centre for Media Freedom. And Hiscock is not some male actor's porn name. She (Gisele Hiscock) is Google's director of New Business Development in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the authorities were the Dubai Police. Apparently their friendless to the West and its cash-money only "extenZe" so far.
On the other hand, it sure sounds like it's coming out of an Orwell story. Take a look at this press release from WAM, the official UAE news agency
The [Doha Centre for Media Freedom] may be considering licentiousness as praiseworthy ... The Centre also interprets pornography as a legitimate right, which people are entitled to imbibe across the internet. But the Dubai Police do not agree with them in holding this view ...
Tamim denied reports that he had met ... to discuss the ban of 500 search terms.
...
These terms open the door into the smut in the cyberspace bringing in devastating effect on the young generation as the studies had shown, explained the Dubai Police Chief, who is also the Chairman of Juvenile Education Association in Dubai.
Even better, the police chief later "denied" these reports. Of course, by denied, I don't mean that he said they were false. Heaven forbid he deny his desire to censor the Internet.
"I did not request Google representatives to block pornographic materials uploaded on YouTube from Qatar internet services, but asked them to take this into account in the UAE."
This reminds me of a Sesame Street episode I saw when I was young. In this episode, Ernie initially eats cookies in his bed. Bert tells him not to do that. Ernie demands to know why. Bert explains that if he eats cookies in bed, there will be crumbs in his bed. And if there are crumbs in his bed, he will itch. Ernie, stricken, says "Well I don't like to itch. I will never eat cookies in my bed again." A pause, then ... "I'm going to eat cookies in your bed, Bert."
Of course, my analogy may be a bit off. Frankly, it's questionable whether or not Sesame Street would be allowed to air in Dubai. After all, they may go in for the "Bert and Ernie are teh gay" rumor.
It's not clear as to what Google will do. One certainly hopes they listen to the Doha Centre for Media Freedom and refuse to censor Youtube content for Dubai. On the other hand, Google has kowtowed to the government of China and its censorship, though China admittedly represents a far bigger market (and is thus far more powerful) than Dubai.
I still have one question, though. The article states the police want Google to block porn on Youtube from residents in Dubai. Why exactly does Google not make that porn available here? I've never found any ...