# Kobo (كوبو)

> Kobo is restricted in Syria, as of 2026-08-10.

- Status: restricted
- Outreach: No Outreach
- Company: [Rakuten](https://unblocksyria.com/en/companies/rakuten.md)
- Categories: E-books & Audiobooks, Consumer Devices, Digital Goods
- Official site: https://www.kobo.com
- Community votes: 3
- Last updated: 2026-08-10
- Page: https://unblocksyria.com/en/services/kobo

## About

E-reader devices and digital bookstore for ebooks and audiobooks

## Activity summary

Restricted for users in Syria. Community testing in March 2026 found that the Kobo site, book browsing, and account creation all work, but completing a purchase redirects to a sanctioned-countries page stating that purchases from the user's country are not supported. The restriction targets billing, not access. No outreach to the company has been made yet.

## Community reports

- 2026-03-05 — Investigated. Community testing from Syria confirmed that Kobo (kobo.com) is restricted. The main website loads normally, book browsing and account creation work, but attempting to complete a purchase redirects to kobo.com/ww/en/sanctionedcountries with the message: "Purchases from your country, as indicated in your billing information, are currently not supported." The restriction targets billing rather than access — all storefront features work except checkout. (evidence: https://api.unblocksyria.com/files/evidence/kr80z7q021ye0gmgd266tlzd/ml0nqs6yslufweh7ml87m1se-screen-1.png, https://api.unblocksyria.com/files/evidence/kkcwkuejrr1mqith46v42apd/jam2z02joikfmgbqfcbeho04-screen-2.png)

## Context

These are geo-restrictions the companies applied themselves, not filtering by Syrian ISPs and not a legal requirement. US and EU sanctions on Syria were lifted in 2025. See https://unblocksyria.com/llms.txt for the regulatory summary and https://unblocksyria.com/en/about for citations to the specific orders and regulations.

## Machine-readable

- JSON: https://api.unblocksyria.com/services/kobo?locale=en
- Timeline JSON: https://api.unblocksyria.com/services/kobo/timeline?locale=en
- HTML: https://unblocksyria.com/en/services/kobo
- Other languages: https://unblocksyria.com/ar/services/kobo.md, https://unblocksyria.com/ku/services/kobo.md