A major internet watchdog has said the UAE's policy of blocking offensive websites is strongly supported by the country's residents.
The OpenNet Initiative's study into internet use in the country also praised the way the country does not block politically-sensitive sites.
The report by academics from Harvard, Cambridge and Toronto Universities found that one in six websites tested were blocked by internet service provider Etisalat.
When attempts are made to open offensive websites using Etisalat, a page comes up saying the site is blocked "due to its content being inconsistent with the cultural, political and moral values of the UAE".
"These protective measures, carried out through filtering processes and other forms of enforcement, are geared toward protecting political, moral and religious values of the UAE and have considerable popular support.
"According to one survey, more than half of the UAE's citizens agree that internet censorship is an effective measure to protect family members from objectionable content," the report said.
When producing the report, the OpenNet Initiative tested 8,713 websites and found that 1,347 or 15.4 per cent are blocked. Among the sites blocked are those covering offensive topics.
However, the report, which is titled Internet Filtering in the United Arab Emirates 2004-2005: A Country Study, said that the filtering system did not block political sites or news and media sources.
"Our testing located only slight blocking related to UAE domestic political issues and we located similarly minimal evidence of attempts to block access to media sites," the report said.
Much of the filtering is achieved through SmartFilter blocking software that excludes web pages about offensive topics.
The report said occasionally this software inadvertently blocks sites that do not contain offensive material, but only a small percentage of sites relating to topics such as travel, general news, art and culture and internet chat are blocked.
When researching the report, the OpenNet Initiative tested servers on two networks, Emirnet and UAEnet. Emirnet is the network used by Etisalat, while UAEnet is a university-specific network.
The report said the UAE was "among the most highly connected countries in the Middle East" with an estimated 1.1 million internet users in 2003.
A total of 36.7 per cent of the population has access to the internet and 11 per cent of these internet users have high-speed connections.
The OpenNet Initiative is a collaborative partnership between three academic teams, including the Advanced Network Research Group at the University of Cambridge's Centre for International Studies.
