The Qatari government appears to have blocked the independent news site Doha News throughout the emirate.
On Wednesday, readers in Qatar noticed they were unable to access the Doha News website. It had been blocked by both of the country's internet service providers: Ooredoo and Vodafone.
The site quickly switched to a different website URL, but that was blocked shortly after as well.
"Given this development and the silence from the government and ISP providers, we can only conclude that our website has been deliberately targeted and blocked by Qatar authorities," the Doha News Team said in a statement.
"We are incredibly disappointed with this decision, which appears to be an act of censorship. We believe strongly in the importance of a free press, and are saddened that Qatar, home of the Doha Center for Media Freedom and Al Jazeera, has decided to take this step."
Amnesty International has criticized the action:
"This is an alarming setback for freedom of expression in the country. Deliberately blocking people in Qatar from accessing a legitimate news website would be an outright attack on media freedom," James Lynch, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Global Issues said in a statement emailed to StepFeed.
"As the nation that founded the Al Jazeera media network and which hosts a center dedicated to promoting global media freedom, Qatar should be at the forefront of those championing freedom of the press."
The website has begun publishing its articles on Medium for readers inside Qatar to access.
The Doha News team said it was puzzled by the decision. The authorities, they said, had not brought up any concerns with the staff.
As one of the country's only independent news outlets, the website has been a go-to source for the latest in-depth news for nearly eight years.
"Our team of professional journalists has always aimed to draw the community together by informing and engaging them, and sparking debate on important issues," the news teams said.
Although the news site has published numerous articles sparking significant online debate, none of its recent posts have appeared to have stirred any significant controversy.
In October, the site published an editorial criticizing Qatar's cybercrime law. An article titled "What it’s like to be gay and Qatari" written from a firsthand perspective also created an intense social media debate in August. It was followed-up by an editorial expressing a more traditional and conservative perspective on homosexuality.