Surf the internet in total freedom without the fear of being blocked or detected with our Qatar VPN. Urban VPN has servers across the globe, guaranteeing you a lightning-fast connection and thousands of IPs to choose from, so that you will be able to easily mind your business anonymously and safely while in Qatar.
Internet was introduced in Qatar in 1997 by government-owned Q-Tel Telecommunications Company (Qtel). Ever since, the government has been encouraging citizens to use Internet connections in order to make Doha a middle eastern media hub. Evidently, they were successful - Qatar's Internet penetration grew from 6 percent in 2001 to 86 percent in 2011.
Qatar is one of the most connected countries in the region, with the Supreme Council for Communications and Information Technology (ictQatar) as the main telecommunications regulator in the country.
Despite its best efforts to present itself as a media freedom hub in the Gulf region, the internet in Qatar is heavily censored and content filtering is very pervasive. Qatar has blocked and censored online activity on numerous times. Back in 2016, Human Rights Watch reported that Qatari authorities blocked Doha News, the country's only independent news website.
State law prohibits dishonoring the Emir and publishing any data detrimental to national interests. Qatar also actively blocks websites of pornography, political criticism, LGBTQ content and sexual health information. Internet users complain that non-obscene or non-offensive Web sites are also blocked.
A cyber law introduced in 2014 severely limited freedom of speech and freedom of expression, allowing the government and authorities to take legal and punitive action against "content that may harm the country" with up to 3 years of jail time and heavy fines.
Looking to evade persecution and censorship, it is best to use a secure VPN connection to protect the personal data and hide the user's location.
Urban VPN abides by a complete no-logging policy, allowing you to access all websites, social media platforms, and apps with no restrictions and without tracing your activity. Urban VPN encrypts your connection and allows you to replace your IP address with an IP address from the geolocation of your choice, so you can securely browse the internet without any concern that the government, your internet service provider, or any prying third party can monitor your online activities.