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| The Sultanate of Oman blocks the Clubhouse app |
Oman banned the American Voice Clubhouse app because it did not receive proper approval, but some activists described the move as another erosion of freedom of expression in the Gulf states.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Oman said that the app is banned due to the lack of permits and that any applications related to online communication or using video calls must be approved by the agency.
The hashtag #Oman_BansClub_House is popular on social media platforms licensed from Oman, and the owner of the hashtag is not satisfied with the actions described by social media users, which are inconsistent with the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Basic Law of the Sultanate of Oman.
Several Omanis shared app screenshots showing a recorded error message after China banned access to the club last month.
The San Francisco-based app launched in early 2020. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, and Vlad Teneff, CEO of Robinhood, moved across the platform. After some surprising discussions, the number of users has increased all over the world.
Despite anti-racism rules, hate speech, abuse and misinformation, club reports on anorexia, anti-Semitism and misinformation about the coronavirus have been criticized via the platform elsewhere.
The app says: It invests in tools to detect and prevent abuse, as well as in users who can assign jobs to users and define rules for their rooms to facilitate conversations.
Omani writer Zakaria Al Mahrami wrote on his official Twitter account: I hope the Clubhouse app suspension in Oman is the result of a technical glitch and not an official ban.
He added: If people are prevented from expressing their opinions and listening to the opinions of others, this will not make society immune, but rather will exacerbate overpopulation and plunge them into chaos and conflict.
The Sultanate of Oman bans the use of many encrypted applications on the Internet for audio and video communications without official permission. At the start of the Coronavirus pandemic last year, some of these applications, such as Skype and Google Dead, were allowed to use and Zoom to enhance continuity in government and private sector work and provide services to the education sector.