English-language Qatar news website 'cuts back' after ban

Qatar's most popular English-language news website said it will cut back its output after authorities reportedly blocked the site, in what managers have described as a "clear act of censorship".

Doha News, which published several sensitive articles earlier this year, has been blocked since Wednesday in a move condemned by Amnesty International as "alarming".

The website said in a statement that blocking access to it in Qatar was "an intentional act, in part due to issues with our licensing".

"In the interest of protecting our team, we will be reducing the number of articles we publish until we can resolve the problem and get dohanews.com unblocked," said the website.

The media group added that its managers are still in contact with officials in the Gulf country.

"At the same time, we reject the idea that our news website should be blocked over licensing concerns  -  this is a clear act of censorship, and a fairly unprecedented one in Qatar," Doha News added.

The website, which says it has an audience of around one million unique users per month, was seemingly blocked by the country's internet service providers, Ooredoo and Vodafone. No reason was provided.

"Deliberately blocking people in Qatar from accessing a legitimate news website would be an outright attack on media freedom," said the deputy director of London-based Amnesty International, James Lynch.

As the home of the al-Jazeera news network and a centre dedicated to promoting global media freedom.

"Qatar should be at the forefront of those championing freedom of the press," he added.

Two months ago, Doha News carried an editorial which charged that Qatar's cybercrime law was being used to "silence" people.

Earlier this year, it published an anonymous article by a gay Qatari man -  a sensitive topic in the Gulf state where homosexuality is officially illegal.