--- a/mobile/android/base/java/org/mozilla/gecko/activitystream/ActivityStreamTelemetry.java
+++ b/mobile/android/base/java/org/mozilla/gecko/activitystream/ActivityStreamTelemetry.java
@@ -74,16 +74,17 @@ public class ActivityStreamTelemetry {
      * Calculates the bit-packed value of the user's Activity Stream preferences (e.g. enabled/disabled sections).
      *
      * @param sharedPreferences SharedPreferences of this profile
      * @return bit-packed value of the user's AS preferences, which is the sum of the values of the enabled preferences.
      */
     public static int getASUserPreferencesValue(final SharedPreferences sharedPreferences, final Resources res) {
         int bitPackedPrefValue = 0;
 
+        // todo: Add bit for isPocketAllowedByLocale.
         if (sharedPreferences.getBoolean(ActivityStreamPanel.PREF_POCKET_ENABLED, res.getBoolean(R.bool.pref_activitystream_pocket_enabled_default))) {
             bitPackedPrefValue += POCKET_ENABLED_VALUE;
         }
 
         if (sharedPreferences.getBoolean(ActivityStreamPanel.PREF_VISITED_ENABLED, res.getBoolean(R.bool.pref_activitystream_visited_enabled_default))) {
             bitPackedPrefValue += VISITED_ENABLED_VALUE;
         }
 

new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mobile/android/base/java/org/mozilla/gecko/activitystream/homepanel/ActivityStreamConfiguration.java
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+/* This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+ * License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+ * file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/. */
+
+package org.mozilla.gecko.activitystream.homepanel;
+
+import android.content.Context;
+import android.content.SharedPreferences;
+import android.content.res.Resources;
+import android.support.annotation.VisibleForTesting;
+import org.mozilla.gecko.BrowserLocaleManager;
+import org.mozilla.gecko.Locales;
+
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Locale;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+/**
+ * Static functions for accessing user configuration information.
+ *
+ * TODO (bug 1405161): we should move all configuration accesses to this class to centralize them.
+ */
+public class ActivityStreamConfiguration {
+
+    private static final Set<Locale> enabledLocales;
+
+    static {
+        final String[] enabledLocaleTags = new String[] {
+                // Sorted alphabetically to preserve blame for additions/removals.
+                "de-AT",
+                "de-CH",
+                "de-DE",
+                "en-GB",
+                "en-US",
+                "en-ZA",
+        };
+
+        final Set<Locale> mutableEnabledLocales = new HashSet<>();
+        for (final String enabledLocaleTag : enabledLocaleTags) {
+            mutableEnabledLocales.add(Locales.parseLocaleCode(enabledLocaleTag));
+        }
+        enabledLocales = Collections.unmodifiableSet(mutableEnabledLocales);
+    }
+
+    private ActivityStreamConfiguration() {}
+
+    public static boolean isPocketEnabledByLocale(final Context context) {
+        // Unintuitively, `BrowserLocaleManager.getCurrentLocale` returns the current user overridden locale,
+        // or null if the user hasn't overidden the system default.
+        final Locale currentLocale;
+        final Locale userOverriddenLocale = BrowserLocaleManager.getInstance().getCurrentLocale(context);
+        if (userOverriddenLocale != null) {
+            currentLocale = userOverriddenLocale;
+        } else {
+            // `locale` was deprecated in API 24 but our target SDK is too low to use the new method.
+            currentLocale = context.getResources().getConfiguration().locale;
+        }
+
+        return isPocketEnabledByLocaleInner(currentLocale);
+    }
+
+    @VisibleForTesting static boolean isPocketEnabledByLocaleInner(final Locale locale) {
+        return enabledLocales.contains(locale);
+    }
+}

--- a/mobile/android/base/java/org/mozilla/gecko/activitystream/homepanel/ActivityStreamPanel.java
+++ b/mobile/android/base/java/org/mozilla/gecko/activitystream/homepanel/ActivityStreamPanel.java
@@ -106,17 +106,18 @@ public class ActivityStreamPanel extends
     }
 
     public void load(LoaderManager lm) {
         lm.initLoader(LOADER_ID_TOPSITES, null, new TopSitesCallback());
         if (sharedPreferences.getBoolean(PREF_BOOKMARKS_ENABLED, true) || sharedPreferences.getBoolean(PREF_VISITED_ENABLED, true)) {
             lm.initLoader(LOADER_ID_HIGHLIGHTS, null, new HighlightsCallbacks());
         }
 
-        if (sharedPreferences.getBoolean(PREF_POCKET_ENABLED, true)) {
+        if (ActivityStreamConfiguration.isPocketEnabledByLocale(getContext()) &&
+                sharedPreferences.getBoolean(PREF_POCKET_ENABLED, true)) {
             lm.initLoader(LOADER_ID_POCKET, null, new PocketStoriesCallbacks());
         }
 
     }
 
     public void unload() {
         adapter.swapHighlights(Collections.<Highlight>emptyList());
 

--- a/mobile/android/base/java/org/mozilla/gecko/activitystream/homepanel/StreamRecyclerAdapter.java
+++ b/mobile/android/base/java/org/mozilla/gecko/activitystream/homepanel/StreamRecyclerAdapter.java
@@ -192,17 +192,18 @@ public class StreamRecyclerAdapter exten
             final SharedPreferences sharedPreferences = GeckoSharedPrefs.forProfile(context);
             final boolean bookmarksEnabled = sharedPreferences.getBoolean(ActivityStreamPanel.PREF_BOOKMARKS_ENABLED,
                     context.getResources().getBoolean(R.bool.pref_activitystream_recentbookmarks_enabled_default));
             final boolean visitedEnabled = sharedPreferences.getBoolean(ActivityStreamPanel.PREF_VISITED_ENABLED,
                     context.getResources().getBoolean(R.bool.pref_activitystream_visited_enabled_default));
             setViewVisible(bookmarksEnabled || visitedEnabled, holder.itemView);
         } else if (type == RowItemType.TOP_STORIES_TITLE.getViewType()) {
             final Context context = holder.itemView.getContext();
-            final boolean pocketEnabled = GeckoSharedPrefs.forProfile(context).getBoolean(ActivityStreamPanel.PREF_POCKET_ENABLED,
+            final boolean pocketEnabled = ActivityStreamConfiguration.isPocketEnabledByLocale(context) &&
+                    GeckoSharedPrefs.forProfile(context).getBoolean(ActivityStreamPanel.PREF_POCKET_ENABLED,
                     context.getResources().getBoolean(R.bool.pref_activitystream_pocket_enabled_default));
             setViewVisible(pocketEnabled, holder.itemView);
         }
     }
 
     /**
      * This sets a child view of the adapter visible or hidden.
      *

--- a/mobile/android/base/moz.build
+++ b/mobile/android/base/moz.build
@@ -501,16 +501,17 @@ gbjar.sources += ['java/org/mozilla/geck
     'AboutPages.java',
     'AccountsHelper.java',
     'ActionBarTextSelection.java',
     'ActionModeCompat.java',
     'ActionModeCompatView.java',
     'ActivityHandlerHelper.java',
     'activitystream/ActivityStream.java',
     'activitystream/ActivityStreamTelemetry.java',
+    'activitystream/homepanel/ActivityStreamConfiguration.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/ActivityStreamHomeFragment.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/ActivityStreamHomeScreen.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/ActivityStreamPanel.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/HighlightsDividerItemDecoration.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/HighlightsLoader.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/menu/ActivityStreamContextMenu.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/menu/BottomSheetContextMenu.java',
     'activitystream/homepanel/menu/PopupContextMenu.java',