The UAE blocks websites in 19 official categories, from pornography and gambling to offences against the state and ways around the blocks, and allows internet calls only on licensed or approved apps, which leaves out WhatsApp.
As of 13 Nov 2026, vpnAlert’s daily test finds 9 of the 67 sites and apps it tracks blocked in the UAE: Grindr, Change.org, NordVPN, Surfshark, Proton VPN, ExpressVPN, Mullvad, Tor Project and Psiphon.
By the vpnAlert team · Background checked on 10 Oct 2026 · Tested every day since 29 Sep 2026 ·
How we test · Report a wrong result
Every day we open 67 of the world’s biggest sites and apps from home internet connections in the UAE, and record what’s blocked, since when and how.
9 of 67 testedsites and apps with a confirmed block in the UAE
The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) runs the Internet Access Management policy, and the two licensed providers, Etisalat (e&) and du, must block content when it asks. The policy’s 19 categories run from pornography, gambling, fraud and drugs to “offences against the UAE and the public order”, “illegal communication services” and “bypassing blocked content”. Under the 2021 cybercrime law, the Attorney General can also order websites blocked.
Freedom House found political blogs, atheist and secular sites and the sites of rights groups such as the Gulf Center for Human Rights blocked in 2024, and du’s published blocking criteria include LGBT+ content, dating networks and circumvention tools. Qatari outlets, Al Jazeera among them, were blocked from 2017, during the Gulf dispute with Qatar, until March 2023. Researchers have found providers filtering with Netsweeper and WireFilter products.
Internet calls are legal only through the licensed operators or apps the TDRA approves. It has approved work and study tools such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Cisco Webex, and telehealth apps in February 2024, but calls on WhatsApp, Viber and FaceTime were still blocked in 2024. The TDRA warns that using an unapproved calling app may be a criminal offence and that providers will most probably block the traffic.
Two changes came in 2025 and 2026. Since February 2025 the economy ministry’s InstaBlock centre has passed rights holders’ complaints about illegal sports streams to the TDRA, which blocks them within about 10 to 15 minutes; 14,122 sites and apps were blocked during the 2026 World Cup. A child digital safety law in force since 1 January 2026 allows platforms aimed at UAE users that break it to be blocked or closed, after a one-year grace period.
Are VPNs legal in the UAE?
VPNs aren’t banned outright in the UAE, but Article 10 of the 2021 cybercrime law punishes disguising your IP address to commit or hide a crime with prison and/or a fine of AED 500,000 to 2,000,000, and the TDRA’s blocking policy targets tools for “bypassing blocked content”.
Key dates
The economy ministry says 14,122 websites and apps were blocked for broadcasting sport illegally during the 2026 World Cup.
The Child Digital Safety law takes effect; after a one-year grace period, platforms that break it can be blocked or closed.
Roblox switches off in-game chat in the UAE after talks with the TDRA.
The economy ministry sets up InstaBlock, which sends rights holders’ complaints about illegal sports streams to the TDRA for blocking within minutes.
Al Jazeera and other Qatari news sites are unblocked after six years, as relations with Qatar improve.
A new cybercrime law takes effect; its Article 10 punishes disguising an IP address to commit or hide a crime.
Get past a block
Blocked in the UAE?
A VPN connects you through a server in another country, so the blocks in the UAE no longer apply. Where VPNs themselves are blocked, you need one that can disguise its traffic.
VPN websites are blocked there too: in our latest tests, nordvpn.com and surfshark.com don’t open in the UAE, so install the app and sign in before you need it.
NordVPN
Our top pick
Obfuscated servers for networks that block VPNs
Connects you through a server in another country
Encrypts what your internet provider could otherwise see
We earn a commission if you buy through these links. It never changes what the monitor shows. Our disclosure.
History
Changes in the UAE
No confirmed changes since monitoring began on 29 Sep 2026. When a block appears or lifts, and a re-check on several machines agrees, it shows up here.
Method
How we test
Test machines on Etisalat home connections open each site’s homepage every day.
A failure counts only when it happens twice on the same network, while the site opens from other countries.
A change is published only after re-checks a few hours later and again the next day, on several machines per provider, confirm it. It’s dated from the first sighting.
Test machines caught getting around blocks, through a VPN or a filter-dodging tool, are set aside.
We test websites, mostly over home broadband. Apps, calls and mobile networks can behave differently.
Not in itself, but misuse is punished. Article 10 of the 2021 cybercrime law covers anyone who disguises their IP address, with someone else’s or by any other means, to commit or hide a crime: prison and/or a fine of AED 500,000 to 2,000,000. Freedom House says using a VPN for banned calling apps is punishable too.
Does FaceTime Work in the UAE?
FaceTime calls were still blocked in 2024, according to Freedom House, along with Viber and WhatsApp calls. Internet calls are allowed only through the licensed operators or apps the TDRA approves, a list that includes Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Cisco Webex.
Is Al Jazeera Blocked in the UAE?
Not since March 2023, when the UAE unblocked Al Jazeera and other Qatari outlets as relations with Qatar improved. It had blocked them in 2017, during its dispute with Qatar. Other critical news sites, such as Middle East Eye, have been blocked, Freedom House reports.
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As of 13 Nov 2026, 9 of the 67 sites and apps in the vpnAlert Censorship Monitor are blocked in the UAE.
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