Blogger, author and founder of Bahrain’s BahrainOnline forum, Ali Abdulemam was arrested on 4 September by Bahraini authorities for allegedly spreading “false news” on the BahrainOnline.org portal. On the afternoon of 5 September, BahrainOnline was shut down for good, by the authorities. A crackdown on media began in Bahrain on 13 August.
The diary of a British advisor to Bahraini government has been banned after new material was added to the latest edition. The 600 page book narrates historically significant events during Charles Belgrave’s time in the country from 1926 to 1957. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights believes the book was banned because it goes into detail of how the government distributed land and wealth. Previous editions of the book were also censored by Bahraini authorities.
Al-Jazeera was suspended from operating in Bahrain on 19 May. The government said the news channel was “flouting the laws regulating the press and publishing” in the country and did not comply with “professional norms.” The bureau’s suspension includes both the Arabic and English stations and Bahrain-based online content; and an Al-Jazeera film crew have been denied entry into the country. Some reports claim a report Al-Jazeera aired on poverty in Bahrain may have been the catalyst for the ban.
The Bahrain Ministry of Information and Culture announced a ban on sharing local news with BlackBerry mobile devices last week. A ministry official, Abdullah Yateem, said the ban was to prevent the “chaos and confusion caused by such news among the public”. Immediately after the ban, the BlackBerry news provider “Breaking News” was forced to stop sending their free six-page daily newspaper to 13,000 subscribers in the country.