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Blogger, VC, and Internet gadabout Joi Ito noticed that Twitter is blocked in the United Arab Emirates for being "inconsistent with the religious, cultural, political and moral values" of the country. We're not sure exactly why the microblogging site is so objectionable — probably something to do with free speech. Or the text-message profit margins of local telephone companies.

The UAE, Dubai in particular, is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. While its government might hand out stacks of tall dollars faster than a low-employee-number Googler in Vegas, it's still a strictly Muslim country. Your fancy Web 2.0 widget might not go over so well there. Then again, if a country thinks you're important enough to block, maybe that tells you your product is actually worth something.