Turkey Lifts YouTube Ban
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An official for Turk Telekom says the court is lifting the block on YouTube, imposed because of videos insulting to the founder of modern Turkey. By the Associated Press.
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Google's YouTube is online again in China, two weeks after it was blocked--but Blogspot is again unavailable.
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ANKARA: Turkey&#39;s bid for membership of the European Union is back on track after the parliament passed far-reaching penal code reforms designed to improve the Muslim nation&#39;s human rights record.
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A court ordered access to YouTube's Web site blocked Wednesday after a prosecutor recommended the ban because of videos allegedly insulting the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
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TDN- Finally the Turkish Parliament, with the blessings of our benevolent Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, convened on Sunday and eradicated a major thorn in Turkey&#39;s relations with the
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A Turkish court on Tuesday acquitted a writer of insulting the country's founder amid calls from the European Union to change repressive laws curbing freedom of expression.
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A Turkish court has again blocked access to the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube because of clips allegedly insulting the country's founding father, according to reports Sunday.
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(InfoWorld) - A press advocacy group is "dismayed" about Google's decision to block YouTube videos from viewers in Thailand that are considered inappropriate or illegal by that Asian government. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), calling Google's reported agreement with the Thai government "a censorship deal," said on Wednesday that the move creates "a dangerous precedent, which could have global implications for freedom of expression." "There is a clear potential for abuse of people's right to information, which seems much more likely now [that] Google has demonstrated its willingness to collude with governments to effectively censor information," IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said in a statement. The Thailand Embassy in Washington, D.C., didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. On Friday and during the weekend, various news outlets reported from Bangkok that Thailand had lifted a five-month ban on YouTube for its residents after Google agreed to block videos the government finds objectionable. In an article posted Friday, the International Herald Tribune quoted Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom, Thailand's minister of information and communications technology, as saying that YouTube had agreed to block clips deemed offensive to Thai culture or that violate Thai law. People accessing YouTube from outside of Thailand will be able to view the videos blocked in that country, the minister told the International Herald Tribune. Thailand blocked all access to Google's YouTube, the world's most popular video-sharing site, in early April after someone posted a video the government considered insulting to the country's king. YouTube is "pleased to hear" that access to its site has been reinstated in Thailand, a YouTube spokesman said via e-mail Wednesday. "We appreciate the constructive dialogue we have had with the ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Ministry.Â YouTube remains committed to removing videos when they violate our content policies, and we will continue to work closely with authorities in Thailand," the YouTube spokesman wrote. YouTube has taken steps to make sure that its users in Thailand will not be able to access videos that have been identified as violating the country's laws, he confirmed. Asked if YouTube's parent company had any reaction to the IFJ's criticism, he said the question should answered by a Google official. At press time, no one from Google had responded to this question. Those found guilty of offending the monarchy face serious penalties in Thailand. Days before the YouTube incident, a Swiss national living in Thailand got slapped with a 10-year jail sentence for defacing images of the king. This is the latest incident in which Google and other providers of Internet services, such as Yahoo and Microsoft, find themselves criticized for censorship by human rights organizations, press advocacy groups, U.S. legislators, and shareholders. For example, several Internet companies have been criticized for agreeing to censor content in their China sites and search engines that the Chinese government finds objectionable. Yahoo in particular has been blasted often for cooperating with the Chinese governmentÂ and providing information that has led to the arrest of dissidents and journalists. Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and others invariably defend themselves saying that they must comply with the local laws of the countries in which they do business and that governments must collaborate to establish international standards of operation. "We always welcome constructive discussions with local governments around the world on similar issues. We are committed to addressing these questions in ways that both respect relevant laws and cultural concerns and are consistent with our global content policies," the YouTube spokesman wrote. When it comes to content that may break local laws, YouTube works with local authorities to resolve the issues. "We think this approach strikes the right balance betweenÂ freedom of expression and respect for local law," he wrote. Thailand recently introduced the Computer Crime Act, which gives authorities the power to seize the computers of people suspected of accessing or creating content deemed insulting or pornographic, according to the IFJ. Activist, social worker and webmaster Sombat Bun-ngam-anong is currently serving a 12-day detention order for alleged defamation for violating the Act, the IFJ said in Wednesday's statement. Also on Wednesday, Reporters Without Borders, another international press watchdog group, reported that a Thai blogger named Pichai has been reportedly detained for the past 12 days, also for violating the Act, which this group says took effect on July 18. The blogger's arrest "confirms our fears about the dangers of a law that is supposed to combat pornography but turns out to be a way of restricting and controlling press freedom," Reporters Without Borders charged.
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Four college students on Thursday asked a Turkish court to revoke the ban it imposed on YouTube for running videos that prosecutors said insulted the founder of modern Turkey.
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The Hamas-led Education Ministry lifts a ban on a Palestinian folktale book following public outcry.
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Just in time for Halloween, Google&#39;s YouTube became available again in China Wednesday, two weeks after it was blocked.Although Chinese Internet regulators don&#39;t comment on why sites are blocked,&#160;YouTube&#39;s blocking&#160;seemed to be tied one or two events: the 17th Communist Party Congress, the Chinese Communist Party&#39;s most important meeting, held every five years; and the launching of YouTube&#39;s traditional language site in Taiwan, both during the same week in the middle of this month. The YouTube Taiwan site is also available in China.However, while YouTube can be viewed again, Blogspot is once again unavailable, one of several sites that see-saw between being allowed or prohibited. Although attempts to reach Blogspot&#39;s homepage rerouted to Blogger.com&#39;s simplified Chinese homepage, neither Blogspot owner Google&#39;s official blog nor the infamous Chinabounder blog -- which features the sexual exploits and political rantings of a foreign English teacher in Shanghai -- could be reached.Blocked throughout the recent changes&#160;is the English-language site of Wikipedia. Its Chinese-language site is&#160;almost always unavailable&#160;here.China regularly blocks access to Web sites that it finds objectionable, including those dealing with politically sensitive subjects such as the Falun Gong religious cult and independence for Taiwan and Tibet, along with some pornographic sites.&#160;
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A Turkish court ordered access to YouTube's Web site blocked on Wednesday, after a prosecutor recommended the ban because of videos allegedly insulting the founder of modern Turkey
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Illegal stunts in cars, joyriding,  bullying and political dissent -- video-sharing Web site  YouTube has taken off in Saudi Arabia.
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Access to YouTube from within Turkey was blocked Wednesday after prosecutors pointed out videos insulting the founder of the modern version of the country were appearing on the site. The videos in question were the result of an online battle between Turkish and Greek users of YouTube.
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Ukraine's Supreme Court lifts a ban on publication of the presidential election results.
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The European Commission has lifted a  suspension of its review of a venture by Japanese electronics  giant Sony and Germany&#39;s Bertelsmann that created the world&#39;s  number two music company.
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Turkey's parliament on Saturday approved the first of two constitutional amendments that would lift a decades-old ban on Islamic head scarves in universities despite the fierce opposition of the secular establishment.