‘Censorship’: Journalists react after Dubai’s Al Roeya newspaper shuts down

Multiple journalists expressed their dismay on Twitter after the shutting down of Dubai-based newspaper Al Roeya and the firing of “dozens of employees”.

An investigation by Associated Press revealed mass firings after the newspaper reported on high fuel prices – a story that “editors agreed” was “safe...even under the strict press laws of the United Arab Emirates”. The story in question was published in June.

A “firestorm” ensued, Associated Press reported. Employees were fired and the print paper was “declared dissolved”.

However, the newspaper’s publisher – owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the brother of UAE’s president – said the print edition was closed due to its “transformation into a new Arabic language business outlet with CNN”.

Regardless, journalists and others expressed concern on social media about this “censorship”.

The United Arab Emirates ranks only 138 out of 180 countries in the world press freedom index published annually by Reporters Without Borders.