Of the 1,688 websites blocked, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of UAE said 542 were banned for obscene content The number blocked in 2018 was nearly twice as many as the following year DUBAI: Hundreds of websites were blocked in 2019 in the UAE for using offensive, racist, religious, defamatory and obscene content, state news agency WAM reported. Of the 1,688 websites blocked, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of UAE (TRA) said 542 were banned for obscene content – that’s 32 percent of all sites barred during the year. Nearly 25.8 percent, or 436, of the banned sites were used for fraudulent purposes, while 253 tried bypassing web filters. Others were banned for violating intellectual property rights, providing illegal online proxy services and other illegal activities. The number of sites banned in 2019 was nearly 1,000 less than In 2018, when the TRA blocked 2,659 for similar reasons.