Activists are taking to the streets of Kuwait City to protest government censorship that has blacklisted more than 4,300 books in the last five years.

Egyptian film ‘Mawlana’ (Preacher) banned in Kuwait, UAE & Lebanon over backlash from religious clerics amid fears it could “incite sectarian strife”.

Book fairs across the Arab-speaking regions in the Middle East and North Africa have not only grown in popularity, but have also been places were publishers can sell books that are not allowed to be sold in stores. However, the Kuwait International Book Fair, once a free space for books, …

Government authorities have banned Emirati street racing film ‘Hajwala’ and have given no reason for their decision, according to the film’s producer, reported Gulf News on 28 September 2016. “We are very disappointed, especially because they [authorities] haven’t even explained to us why they have not allowed the film to …

As of 1 February 2016, five more countries have followed suit with Qatar and banned screenings of Tom Hooper’s transgender film ‘The Danish Girl’. Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and United Arab Emirates failed to pass local censor requirements over “moral depravity” and that it “promoted homosexuality and gender transformation”. Sources » Gay …

A concert with the American singer Akon was scheduled to be held on 11 April 2015, but was cancelled after more than 9,000 tweets with the hashtag #Stop_Saturday_Concert_in Kuwait (in Arabic language) called for a cancellation of the concert. The discussion on Twitter became a heated debate between Kuwaiti citizens …

At 7pm on 5 March 2012, the Al M. Gallery in Kuwait City opened a new exhibition of paintings by Shurooq Amin that was scheduled to last until 1 April. The exhibit was closed three hours later by authorities who deemed the artworks “inappropriate”. At about 9pm police, responding to …

    Video report by Howard Johnson, BBC While the music industry in the Gulf is a lucrative one, government censors are proving a big barrier to commercial success for some artists. In February 2012, Virgin Megastore, the region’s biggest music retailer, closed its flagship branch in Kuwait City. That …

  Music Master, a leading Dubai-based music distributor, has stopped its Kuwait operations because state censorship of albums and artwork makes it impossible to operate, reported Arabian Business on 31 January 2011. Albums by mainstream artists such as Beyonce and Lady Gaga have run into problems in Kuwait. “It comes …

“We will not allow our schools to become centres for graduating dancers. (…) We call for halting this, otherwise, we will use constitutional tools. This could lead to grilling the prime minister,” the Kuwaiti member of parliament Mohammad Hayef told reporters according to Agence France-Presse, AFP. Mohammad Hayef belongs to …