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I understand why it was banned in the USSR, because it's pretty blatant satire of the USSR. It's also still banned in North Korea for the same reason.

But why was it banned in the United Arab Emirates and Kenya and censored in Vietnam?

It was also briefly banned from 1943-1945 by the Allies of WWII, but I'm fairly certain that's due to the governments of the Allies not wanting anti-Russian (another partner in the Allies) sentiments.

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    Related: George Orwell's 1984 banned for contradictory reasons?
    – Rand al'Thor ♦
    Commented Jan 20, 2017 at 15:20
  • If Orwell wrote the book between November 1943 and February 1944, and it was published in August 1945, how is it possible that it "was also briefly banned from 1943-1945 by the Allies of WWII"??
    – Tsundoku
    Commented Jan 16, 2018 at 18:30
  • @ChristopheStrobbe I'll see if I can find it again, the page said something like it forbidden to be published for those reasons, not removed from shelves. I'll update the question at home
    – user72
    Commented Jan 16, 2018 at 18:40

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The UAE banned it because:

"it contained text or images that goes against Islamic values, most notably the occurrence of an anthropomorphic, talking pig." - from Wikipedia

Vietnam has the book censored due to its involvement with communism.

Kenya likely has it banned due to the nature of the book, it:

criticizes corrupt leaders who amass wealth and abuse political power. Kenya, a one-party state, has been increasingly sensitive to potential sources of criticism since calls for a multiparty system began a year ago.

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    I knew eating pigs is prohibited in Islam, but I didn't realize pigs weren't allowed to talk either.
    – JAB
    Commented Feb 13, 2017 at 17:19
  • @JAB i know for at least jewish customs even touching a pig can be seen as unclean, i imagine something similar is the case here
    – Himarm
    Commented Feb 13, 2017 at 17:20