The internet in Jordan

The Arab world has not taken to the internet like other countries have, in large part because their governments have discouraged it. However there are some countries in the region where this is starting to change. One of those countries is Jordan which unlike its neighbours they are actively encouraging the widespread use of the internet. The result is that there are far more people in Jordan online than in most Arab countries.

The use of the internet is Jordan is more widespread than it is in much of the rest of the Arab world but it still lags far behind the developed world. Currently less than forty percent of the population has access to the internet although this number is growing rapidly. Like most of the Arab world Jordan has been slow to adopt the internet in part because it is is difficult to use Arabic characters online and in part because of the cost. Unlike most countries in the region however the government of Jordan are making an active effort to encourage the use of the internet.

The leaders of most Arab countries are afraid of the internet because of the information that people will be able to access with it. This is why for the most part they have made little effort to encourage the use of the internet and in most cases they have actively discouraged it. Jordan is an exception to this as the government has set a goal to make the country the high tech capital of the Middle East. They have encouraged private companies to offer internet service making it one of the few in the Arab world in which the government does not have a monopoly on providing internet service. This has significantly reduced the cost of the internet which was another major hindrance to the growth the internet in the region.

The growth of internet usage in Jordan is likely to continue at a much faster rate than in other Arab countries as most children have access to it. The government has set a goal of making sure that all schools have internet access. The result is that a whole generation is growing up using the internet and they will be very likely to continue to do so in the future.

While the internet is used fairly widely in Jordan it does still face the issue of censorship that is so common in the Arab world. Compared to many other countries the censorship is fairly mild but it does exist. As a country that is ruled by a king most of the censorship is intended to prevent sites that could be viewed as a threat to the monarch or that encourage a change to democratic government. Some sites are also banned in order to protect social norms. This is very common in the Islamic world although Jordan is less severe than most countries.