Qatari rules, stated carefully
VPN software, blocked content and Qatari law: what we found, and what we did not
People in Qatar ask whether using a VPN is legal there. We looked for a clear official answer and did not find one. Below is what the published text of the law says, what Pluto TV says, and what that leaves you to check for yourself before you connect.
Qatar’s law
Law No. 14 of 2014, the Cybercrime Prevention Law
In the unofficial English translation hosted by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Article 3 makes it an offence to “intentionally and illegally” access “in any way a website, an information system, an information network or an information technology technique”. Article 21 requires service providers to “block Internet links when so is ordered by the judicial authorities”. The translation does not mention VPNs or proxies by name.
Pluto TV’s rule
Any VPN or proxy it detects is blocked
Pluto TV’s help centre: “Since we can’t determine the exact purpose or use for a VPN or proxy, we need to block any use of them.” Its message to viewers ends: “Please disable these services on your device to stream videos.” That rule is Pluto TV’s own. It applies wherever the viewer is, Qatar included, and whatever the law of the viewer’s country says.
We found no clear official statement in Qatar about VPN software: not in the law’s text, and not in anything we could find from the Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) or the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. So we are not able to say whether using a VPN, or a residential U.S. IP, is lawful in Qatar. A law that does not name VPNs has not, for that reason, permitted them. The offences in Law No. 14 of 2014 are written in general terms: Article 3 covers access to a website or network “in any way”, and Article 13 covers using an information network to violate copyright and neighbouring rights. Each carries up to three years in prison, a fine, or both.
On blocked content, the law gives one route in plain words: service providers block links when the judicial authorities order it. We did not find an official public list of what is blocked or why. A U.S. address does not change Qatari rules on content; it only changes the address a website sees. Pluto TV’s U.S. line-up is general entertainment, made for American viewers: films, series, news and sport, in its own description. It is not chosen with Qatari rules in mind.
Before you connect, check the rules that apply to you. That means the official Arabic text of the law, which is the authoritative version; your employer’s or university’s IT rules, if you use their network or their device; and the terms of your Ooredoo or Vodafone service. If any of it matters to your situation, ask a lawyer licensed in Qatar. We are not lawyers, and this page is not legal advice.
The translation we quote was prepared by the law firm Squire Patton Boggs, dated 18 September 2014, and is marked unofficial; the law itself was issued on 15 September 2014. We quote short passages so that you can see the wording rather than our summary of it, and in this section we have left out anything we could not trace to the law’s text or an official source.