YouTube, the fourth most visited website in the world (according to Alexa Internet), has been censored several times in some countries since its inception. These countries include Brazil, the People's Republic of China, Indonesia, Iran, Morocco, Pakistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates. YouTube has also been censored by individual institutions within the United States and United Kingdom.
As of March 2010, countries with standing bans on YouTube are Mainland China, Iran, Libya, Tunisia, and Turkmenistan.
Contents |
On May 10, 2008, Microsoft temporarily banned functional YouTube links from its Live Messenger Service (although the ban was lifted as of 21:30 GDT). Microsoft has yet to comment on the blocking. The sending of any functional link starting with either http:// or www. with the string "youtube.com" contained within it returned an error message saying "The following message could not be delivered to all recipients: (original message here)." Coincidentally, or not, Messenger TV, a new video service provided by Microsoft was scheduled for release the same week.[1]
Some U.S. Colleges are also blocking YouTube access. Brigham Young University, a private university run by the LDS (Mormon) Church had blocked YouTube access in the past, but this policy was changed in June 2009.[2]
The graduate and undergraduate student bodies of the Southern California Institute of Architecture are denied access to YouTube and other common video sites such as Google Video, without regard for their educational content. The administration cites bandwidth concerns to legitimize this prohibition.
Many K-12 schools in the United States and Canada block access to YouTube due to sexual, violent, and unusual content, and due to bandwidth consumption.
YouTube and other video streaming websites are also blocked from access in schools across the UK to 'avoid distraction from work'. This only applies to students, as in some schools some teachers are allowed access to YouTube to show videos which are educational. This is done through the use of proxy censor systems through the council's Internet provision, which most schools receive through.
Hospital Corporation of America blocks access to YouTube on its computers. This may be due to bandwidth consumption.
ArmeniaFollowing the disputed February 2008 presidential elections, the Armenian Government temporarily blocked internet users from YouTube. The Armenian opposition had used the website to publicize video of police and military brutality carried out against anti-government protesters.
BrazilYouTube is being sued by Brazilian model and MTV VJ Daniela Cicarelli (better known as Ronaldo's ex-fiancée) on the grounds that the site makes available video footage made by a paparazzo in which she and her boyfriend are having sex on a Spanish beach. The lawsuit requires that YouTube be blocked in Brazil until all copies of the video are removed. On Saturday, January 6, 2007, a legal injunction ordered that filters be put in place to prevent users in Brazil from accessing the website.[3][4]
The effectiveness of the measure has been questioned, since the video is available not only on YouTube, but also on other sites as part of an Internet phenomenon. On Tuesday, January 9, 2007, the same court overturned their previous decision, ordering the filters removed, although the footage itself remained forbidden, but without technical support for its blockage.[5]
BangladeshIn March 2009, YouTube was blocked in Bangladesh after a recording of a meeting between the prime minister and army officers was posted revealing anger by the military on how the government was handling a mutiny by border guards in Dhaka.The block is lifted at present.[6]
IndonesiaOn April 1, 2008, Indonesian information minister, Muhammad Nuh, wrote to YouTube asking them to remove a controversial Dutch film, Fitna, made by Dutch right-wing politician, Geert Wilders. The Indonesian government allowed two days for the removal of the video, or YouTube would be blocked in Indonesia. On April 4, 2008, Muhammad Nuh asked all Internet service providers to block the access to YouTube.[7][8] On April 5, 2008, YouTube was blocked for testing by one ISP.[9] Finally, on April 8, YouTube, along with MySpace, Metacafe, RapidShare, Multiply, Liveleak, and Fitna's official site, were blocked in Indonesia.[10] YouTube's ban was lifted on April 10.[11] There may still be some blocking in May 2008 according to local inhabitants.
IranOn December 3, 2006, Iran blocked YouTube, along with several other sites, after declaring them "immoral". The YouTube ban came after a video was posted online that appears to show an Iranian soap opera star having sex.[12] Only www.youtube.com is filtered; other servers such as ca.youtube.com are open. The block was later lifted and then reinstated after the 2009 presidential election.[13]
LibyaOn 24 January 2010, Libya indefinitely blocked YouTube after it featured videos of demonstrations in the Libyan city of Benghazi by families of detainees who were killed in Abu Salim prison in 1996, as well as videos of family members of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi at parties. The ban was condemned by Human Rights Watch.[14]
MoroccoOn May 25, 2007, the state-owned Maroc Telecom blocked all access to YouTube.[15] There were no reasons given as to why YouTube was blocked, but speculations are that it might have something to do with some posted pro-separatist group Polisario clips (Polisario being the Western Sahara independence movement) or because of some videos criticizing King Mohammed VI. The government ban did not concern the other two private internet providers, Wana and Méditel. YouTube became accessible again on May 30, 2007, after Maroc Telecom unofficially announced that the denied access to the website was a mere "technical glitch".[16]
PakistanYouTube was blocked in Pakistan following a decision taken by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority on February 22, 2007 because of the number of "non-Islamic objectionable videos."[17] One report specifically names Fitna, a controversial Dutch film, as the basis for the block.[18] Pakistan, an Islamic republic, ordered its ISPs to block access to YouTube "for containing blasphemous web content/movies."[19]Blasphemy law in Pakistan calls for life imprisonment or death. Router misconfiguration by one Pakistani ISP effectively blocked YouTube access worldwide for several hours on February 24, 2007.[20]
This follows increasing unrest in Pakistan by Islamic extremists over the reprinting of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons which depict satirical Criticism of Islam.[19] However, it has been suggested by some Pakistani vigilante web sites and electoral process watchdog groups that the block was imposed largely to distract viewers from videos alleging vote-rigging by the ruling MQM party in the recently concluded general elections. Allegations of suppressing vote-rigging videos by the Musharraf administration are also being leveled by Pakistani bloggers, newspapers, media, and Pakistani anti-Musharraf opposition parties.
On February 26, 2007, the ban was lifted after the website had removed the objectionable content from its servers at the request of the government.[21]
People's Republic of ChinaYouTube has been blocked in the People's Republic of China beginning 15 October 2007, but has since been unblocked.[22][23]
However, due to it carrying video of soldiers beating monks and other Tibetans, YouTube has been blocked in Mainland China since 24 March 2009, at least.[24]
As of today, YouTube is still being blocked in China.
ThailandIn 2006, Thailand blocked access to YouTube for users with Thai IP addresses. Thai authorities identified 20 offensive videos and demanded that Google remove them before it would allow unblocking of all YouTube content.[25]
During the week of March 8, 2007, YouTube was blocked in Thailand.[26] Many bloggers believed the reason for the blocking was a posted video of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's speech on CNN. The government did not confirm or provide reasons for the ban. YouTube became accessible again on March 10, 2007.
On the night of April 3, 2007, YouTube was again blocked in Thailand.[27] The government cited a video on the site that it called "insulting" to King Bhumibol Adulyadej.[28][29] However, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology claimed that it would unblock YouTube in a few days, after websites containing references to this video are blocked instead of the entire website.[30] Communications Minister Sitthichai Pokai-udom said, "When they decide to withdraw the clip, we will withdraw the ban."[31] Shortly after this incident the internet technology blog Mashable was blocked from Thailand over the reporting of the YouTube clips in question.[32] YouTube was unblocked on August 30, 2007, after YouTube reportedly agreed to block videos deemed offensive by Thai authorities.[33]
On September 21, 2007, Thai authorities announced they were seeking a court order to block videos that had recently appeared on YouTube accusing Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda of attempting to manipulate the royal succession to make himself Thailand's king.[34]
TunisiaYouTube has been blocked in Tunisia since at least November 2, 2007, with a forged HTTP 404 error message appearing instead.[35] The reasons for such an action are not immediately known, and no explanations have been given. YouTube is the second video site to display such messages.
Turkey
Turkish courts have banned YouTube several times and (apart from a brief interlude) users in Turkey could not access the site during a brief period in March 2007, and further from September 2007 until March 2010.
Türk Telekom first blocked YouTube in compliance with decision 2007/384 issued by the Istanbul 1st Criminal Court of Peace (Sulh Ceza Mahkeme) on 6 March 2007. The court decision was based on videos insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in an escalation of what the Turkish media referred to as a "virtual war" of insults between Greeks and Turks youtube members on the website post video said the others gay or mad.[36][37][25][38] YouTube was sued for "insulting Turkishness"[39] and access to the site was suspended pending the removal of the video. YouTube lawyers sent proof of the video's removal to the Istanbul public prosecutor and access was restored on March 9, 2007.[40] However, other videos similarly deemed insulting were repeatedly posted, and several staggered bans followed, issued by different courts:
Additionally, on May 5, 2008, Türk Telekom was again forced to prevent access to the website in accordance with court decision 2008/468 issued by the Ankara 11th Criminal Court of Peace on April 24, 2008, which cited that YouTube had not acquired a certificate of authorisation in Turkey.
YouTube was not banned when accessed through University IP addresses[42]. The website is the ninth most popular website in Turkey, and, as Prime Minister Erdoğan observed, everyone can easily circumvent such bans through proxies.[43]
Members of the press and the general public have strongly criticized the bans. Some journalist's view (Nuh Gönültaş) in Turkey says: "Youtube closed for AKP closing case.It is not as easy as to close youtube." [44] Journalist Nuh Gönültaş said: "The ban is a democracy - military problem. Turkish media blinde eye for ban" [45]
TurkmenistanOn December 25, 2009, YouTube was blocked in Turkmenistan by the only ISP Turkmentelecom. Other web-sites such as LiveJournal were blocked, too.[46]
United Arab EmiratesThe UAE's telecom regulatory authority blocked YouTube in August 2006, with the Etisalat ISP in the UAE citing "presence of adult content on the website which is clearly against the religious, cultural, political and moral values of the UAE".[47] Etisalat later unblocked Youtube a month later.[48]
|
||||||||
| This article contains embedded lists which may be poorly defined, unverified or indiscriminate. Please help to clean it up to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. (January 2008) |
Contents |
On May 10 2008, Microsoft temporarily banned functional YouTube links from its Live Messenger Service. Microsoft has yet to comment on the blocking. The sending of any functional link starting with either http:// or www. with the string "youtube.com" contained within it will return an error message saying "The following message could not be delivered to all recipients: (original message here)." Coincidentally, or not, Messenger TV, a new video service provided by Microsoft is to be released the same week.[1]
On 10 May 2008 at around 21:30 British Summer Time it appears that YouTube links can now be sent again.
Some U.S. Colleges are also blocking YouTube access. Brigham Young University, a private university run by the LDS (Mormon) Church had blocked YouTube access in the past, but this policy was changed in June 2009.[2]
Following the disputed February 2008 presidential elections, the Armenian Government temporarily blocked internet users from Youtube. The Armenian opposition had used the website to publicize video of police and military brutality carried out against anti-government protesters.
YouTube is being sued by Brazilian model and MTV VJ Daniela Cicarelli (better known as Ronaldo's ex-fiancée) on the grounds that the site makes available video footage made by a paparazzo in which she and her boyfriend are having sex on a Spanish beach. The lawsuit requires that YouTube be blocked in Brazil until all copies of the video are removed. On Saturday, January 6, 2007, a legal injunction ordered that filters be put in place to prevent users in Brazil from accessing the website.[3][4]
The effectiveness of the measure has been questioned, since the video is available not only on YouTube, but also on other sites as part of an Internet phenomenon. On Tuesday, January 9, 2007, the same court overturned their previous decision, ordering the filters removed, although the footage itself remained forbidden, but without technical support for its blockage.[5]
In March 2009, YouTube was blocked in Bangladesh after a recording of a meeting between the prime minister and army officers was posted revealing anger by the military on how the government was handling a mutiny by border guards in Dhaka.The block is lifted at present. [6]
On April 1, 2008, Indonesian information minister, Muhammad Nuh, wrote to YouTube asking them to remove a controversial Dutch film, Fitna, made by Dutch right-wing politician, Geert Wilders. The Indonesian government allowed two days for the removal of the video, or YouTube would be blocked in Indonesia. On April 4, 2008, Muhammad Nuh asked all Internet service providers to block the access to YouTube.[7][8] On April 5, 2008, YouTube was blocked for testing by one ISP.[9] Finally, on April 8, YouTube, along with MySpace, Metacafe, RapidShare, Multiply, Liveleak, and Fitna's official site, were blocked in Indonesia.[10] YouTube's ban was lifted on April 10.[11] There may still be some blocking in May 2008 according to local inhabitants.
On December 3, 2006, Iran blocked YouTube, along with several other sites, after declaring them "immoral". The YouTube ban came after a video was posted online that appears to show an Iranian soap opera star having sex.[12] Only www.youtube.com is filtered; other servers such as ca.youtube.com are open. The block was later lifted and then reinstated after 2009 presidential election.[13]
On May 25, 2007 the state-owned Maroc Telecom blocked all access to YouTube.[14] There were no reasons given as to why YouTube was blocked, but speculations are that it might have something to do with some posted pro-separatist group Polisario clips (Polisario being the Western Sahara independence movement) or because of some videos criticizing King Mohammed VI. The government ban did not concern the other two private internet providers, Wana and Méditel. YouTube became accessible again on May 30, 2007 after Maroc Telecom unofficially announced that the denied access to the website was a mere "technical glitch".[15]
YouTube was blocked in Pakistan following a decision taken by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority on February 22, 2007 because of the number of "non-Islamic objectionable videos."[16] One report specifically names Fitna, a controversial Dutch film, as the basis for the block.[17] Pakistan, an Islamic republic, ordered its ISPs to block access to YouTube "for containing blasphemous web content/movies."[18]Blasphemy law in Pakistan calls for life imprisonment or death. Router misconfiguration by one Pakistani ISP effectively blocked YouTube access worldwide for several hours on February 24.[19]
This follows increasing unrest in Pakistan by Islamic extremists over the reprinting of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons which depict satirical Criticism of Islam.[18] However, it has been suggested by some Pakistani vigilante web sites and electoral process watchdog groups that the block was imposed largely to distract viewers from videos alleging vote-rigging by the ruling MQM party in the recently concluded general elections. Allegations of suppressing vote-rigging videos by the Musharraf administration are also being leveled by Pakistani bloggers, newspapers, media, and Pakistani anti-Musharraf opposition parties.
On February 26, 2007, the ban was lifted after the website had removed the objectionable content from its servers at the request of the government.[20]
YouTube has been blocked in the People's Republic of China beginning 15 October 2007, but has since been unblocked.[21][22]
However, due to it carrying video of soldiers beating monks and other Tibetans, YouTube has been blocked in Mainland China since 24 March, 2009, at least.[23]
In 2006, Thailand blocked access to YouTube for users with Thai I.P addresses. Thai authorities identified 20 offensive videos and demanded that Google remove them before it would allow unblocking of all YouTube content.[24]
During the week of March 8, 2007, YouTube was blocked in Thailand.[25] Many bloggers believed the reason for the blocking was a posted video of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's speech on CNN. The government did not confirm or provide reasons for the ban. YouTube became accessible again on March 10, 2007.
On the night of April 3, 2007, YouTube was again blocked in Thailand.[26] The government cited a video on the site that it called "insulting" to King Bhumibol Adulyadej.[27] However, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology claimed that it would unblock YouTube in a few days, after websites containing references to this video are blocked instead of the entire website.[28] Communications Minister Sitthichai Pokai-udom said, "When they decide to withdraw the clip, we will withdraw the ban."[29] Shortly after this incident the internet technology blog Mashable was blocked from Thailand over the reporting of the YouTube clips in question.[30] YouTube was unblocked on August 30, 2007 after YouTube reportedly agreed to block videos deemed offensive by Thai authorities.[31]
On September 21, 2007, Thai authorities announced they were seeking a court order to block videos that had recently appeared on YouTube accusing Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda of attempting to manipulate the royal succession to make himself Thailand's king.[32]
YouTube has been blocked in Tunisia since at least November 2 2007, with a forged HTTP 404 error message appearing instead.[33] The reasons for such an action are not immediately known, and no explanations have been given. YouTube is the second video site to display such messages.
Turkish courts have banned YouTube several times and users in Turkey currently cannot access the site .
Türk Telekom first blocked YouTube in compliance with a Turkish court order on 6 March 2007. The court decision was based on videos insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in an escalation of what the Turkish media referred to as a "virtual war" of insults between Greeks and Turks on the website.[24][34] Youtube was sued for "insulting Turkishness"[35] and access to the site was suspended pending the removal of the video. YouTube lawyers sent proof of the video's removal to the Istanbul public prosecutor and access was restored on March 9, 2007.[36]
In January 2008, another ban came into effect after "decision no: 2008/55 of T.R. Ankara 12th Criminal Court of Peace." [37]
On May 5, 2008, Türk Telekom was again forced to prevent access to the website in accordance with the Ankara 11th Sulh Criminal Court court decision (2008/468) of April 24, 2008, which cited that YouTube had not acquired a certificate of authorisation in the country. Members of the press and the general public have strongly criticized the bans.
| This section may be confusing or unclear to readers. Please help clarify the article; suggestions may be found on the talk page. (February 2009) |
The UAE's telecom regulatory authority has blocked YouTube, with the Etisalat ISP in the UAE citing "presence of adult content on the website which is clearly against the religious, cultural, political and moral values of the UAE".[38] However, as of January 2009, YouTube is unblocked and users can open YouTube.
Template:You Tube
   | Censorship fears rise as Iran blocks access to top websites - Censorship fears rise as Iran blocks access to top websites | World news | The Guardian |
| | Whose Tube? - Censorship and the internet | Whose tube? | Economist.com |
| | ''YouTube again accessible via Maroc Telecom'' - Reporters Sans Frontières |
| | ''Morocco blocks access to YouTube'' - Global Voices Online » Morocco blocks access to YouTube |
| | For some users, YouTube disappears - Bangkok Post : A tale of two insurgents |
| | Mashable.com Banned in Thailand - Mashable.com Banned in Thailand |
| | YouTube seems blocked in Thailand 2bangkok.com - 2Bangkok.com - YouTube blocked in Thailand |
| | Turkey bans YouTube - Turkey bans YouTube - Entertainment News, Technology News, Media - Variety |
| | Turkey pulls plug on YouTube over Ataturk 'insults' - Turkey pulls plug on YouTube over Ataturk 'insults' | World news | guardian.co.uk |
| | Turkey revokes YouTube ban - Turkey revokes YouTube ban - Breaking - Technology - theage.com.au |
| | Ban on YouTube lifted after deal - Bangkok's Independent Newspaper |
| | BDSI seeks to block YouTube videos - Bangkok Post : Breakingnews |
| | Pakistan lifts YouTube ban - Pakistan lifts YouTube ban - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) |
| | "YouTube blocked in China; Flickr, Blogspot restored" - YouTube blocked in China; Flickr, Blogspot restored | Security Central - InfoWorld |
| | Menkominfo 'Ultimatum' ISP Blokir YouTube - detikInet : situs warta era digital | Menkominfo 'Ultimatum' ISP Blokir YouTube |
| | Indonesia restores access to YouTube Web site - Indonesia restores access to YouTube Web site | Technology | Reuters |
| | Indonesia Seeks to Block YouTube Over Anti-Koran Film - The New York Times > Log In |
| | YouTube unblocked in China, but could Google have cooperated? - YouTube unblocked in China, but could Google have cooperated? | Sinobyte: China and technology - CNET News |
| | Speedy Blokir 7 Situs, Pengusaha Kecil Mulai Menjerit! - detikInet : situs warta era digital | Speedy Blokir 7 Situs, Pengusaha Kecil Mulai Menjerit! |
| | China 'blocks YouTube video site' - BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | China 'blocks YouTube video site' |
| | "Pakistan move knocked out YouTube" - Pakistan move knocked out YouTube - CNN.com |
| | Tunisia: is Youtube blocked? - Global Voices Advocacy » Tunisia: is Youtube blocked? |
| | YouTube Terblokir karena 'Ulah' Satu ISP - detikInet : situs warta era digital | YouTube Terblokir karena 'Ulah' Satu ISP |
| | YouTube banned in Turkey once again - YouTube banned in Turkey once again - Wikinews, the free news source |
| | Pakistan blocks YouTube website - BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan blocks YouTube website |
|
|
Wikis
Search
