The United Arab Emirates have recently blocked SnapChat’s updated voice and video calling features. These features were introduced in SnapChat 2.0, a huge upgrade for the popular evolving social media platform. The 2.0 update allows users everywhere to talk to one another with a simple tap.
The new features sound harmless enough on paper, but the UAE has a regulation which prevents VoIP third-party providers from offering telephone-like services like voice or video calls.
The UAE explained the reasoning behind the takedown: “Companies wishing to provide [VoIP] services should coordinate with the UAE’s licensed service providers in this regard.”
In the UAE, Etisalat and DU monopolize this space that SnapChat 2.0 has attempted to enter, with its increasingly large user base. Offering VoIP services within the UAE can only be possible if companies coordinate within the jurisdiction of Etisalat and DU.
This aggressive control was seen earlier in the case of WhatsApp, in which the Telecom Regulatory Authority determined that “Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are considered part of the UAE’s regulated activities. The TRA has granted licensed operators the eligibility to provide such services across their networks.”
“The TRA stressed on its role as the regulator in this context, especially in light of its devoted efforts towards upgrading the Information and Communication Technology infrastructure and laying the foundations for smart cities and smart government, as well as ensuring the UAE’s leading position on a global standard.”
The TRA and UAE do realize that upholding regulations is not the end-all answer, but they fail to understand that accessing SnapChat and WhatsApp are easily possible and entirely secure with the use of a VPN service like TorGuard.
All a user has to do is change their IP address by connecting to a remote server through a safe and encrypted tunnel. In this way, a user can easily bypass any restrictions seemingly enforced to force users to adhere to the monopolization of voice and video calling.
In response to security workarounds that give users control of their internet, the UAE deems that using a VPN to access banned content is not permissible. The user doesn’t have a right to decide which VoIP they should use, and “tampering with the internet network [to do so] is a crime” says Colonel Saeed Al Hajri, Director of the Cyber Crimes Department at Dubai Police.
Ensure that your VPN doesn’t get detected with TorGuard’s military grade Stealth VPN servers paired with a Stealth Proxy that makes your Internet traffic encryption and VPN invisible.
