FOTP 2013 Full Report

percent of working journalists in 2010 were native Emiratis. The NMC-supported JournalistAssociation allocated 1 million dirhams ($270,000) for training and developing Emiratis’capacity in the field.About 85 percent of the UAE population had regular access to the internet in 2012. Thereare two internet service providers, Etisalat and Du, both of which are owned and operated bystate corporations. Despite broad restrictions, a majority of news consumers in Dubai rely on theinternet, including blogs and news forums, to obtain information, according to the Dubai PressClub’s Arab Media Outlook 2009–2013 report. The UAE has an extremely high mobiletelephonepenetration rate, making such devices one of the most popular ways to receive newscontent.United KingdomStatus: FreeLegal Environment: 7Political Environment: 9Economic Environment: 5Total Score: 21Survey Edition 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012Total Score, Status 18,F 19,F 19,F 19,F 21,FWith a history of aggressive reporting and an editorially independent public broadcaster, theUnited Kingdom maintained its open media environment in 2012, though positive developmentsregarding libel law reform were balanced by the possibility of increased newspaper regulation.The laws provide for freedom of the press, and the government generally respects thisright in practice. While antiquated legal provisions that criminalized blasphemy andblasphemous libel were abolished in 2008, several laws that weaken press freedom remain inplace. The media can be required to turn over reporting materials to the police under the 1984Police and Criminal Evidence Act. This happened on several occasions during the 2011 Londonriots, as well as during separate riots in Northern Ireland. In the aftermath of the July 2005terrorist bombings on London’s mass transit system, the government passed the 2006 Preventionof Terrorism Act. Certain provisions of the law criminalize speech that is considered toencourage terrorism, even in the absence of a direct, proven link to a specific terrorist act. The2006 Racial and Religious Hatred Act criminalized incitement of religious hatred or violence,and using threatening words or behavior or displaying any threatening written material isconsidered an offense if the intended purpose is inciting religious hatred. The same is true formaterial that is broadcast. In the first conviction under this legislation, blogger Bilal ZaheerAhmad was sentenced in July 2011 to 12 years in prison for encouraging Muslims to murdermembers of Parliament who had supported the war in Iraq. His website was also shut down.Libel laws in effect in England and Wales heavily favor the plaintiff, placing the burdenof proof on the defendant. As a result, the country has become an increasingly populardestination for “libel tourism,” in which foreign plaintiffs bring libel actions against foreigndefendants in English courts. However, a campaign led by the free speech organizations Senseabout Science, English PEN, and Index on Censorship launched a libel reform petition in394