Dhaka Times Desk Bangladesh and Pakistan have blocked video sharing site YouTube from their internet systems. This action has been taken due to the promotion of a controversial film satirizing Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
After receiving allegations that an amateur film made in America had insulted the Prophet of Islam, Pakistan requested YouTube authorities to remove the video. The latest news is that the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Raja Pervez Ashraf, has ordered the YouTube website to be shut down due to its rejection. Earlier, America also requested Google to remove the video, which Google also refused.
It is known that until now the Google authorities have stopped the promotion of that video-picture in Indonesia, India, Egypt and Libya. They said that this action has been taken according to the local laws of those countries.
YouTube is also closed in Bangladesh
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (BTRC) shut down YouTube's website in Bangladesh at around 10:30pm on Monday, September 17, agency officials confirmed to the BBC. However, no notification has been given by Bangladesh government or BTRC in this regard. BTRC officials said that they have taken action to close the YouTube website after the government order to close the YouTube website.
Earlier, on September 16, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission sent a letter to Google, the owner of the website, requesting Google to remove the part of the film insulting the Prophet of Islam Muhammad (PBUH), which was on the YouTube website.
BTRC officials said that till September 17, they did not receive any response to the letter from Google authorities.
It should be noted that the video made by insulting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was released on the Internet, the Bangladesh government strongly condemned it on the last 14th. In this regard, the statement issued by the government's foreign office said that spreading such hatred in the name of freedom of expression cannot be accepted in any way.
Moreover, last Sunday, September 16, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh expressed a strong reaction to the showing of the controversial film on YouTube. Courtesy: Bangladesh News24.
Protests continue to ban the controversial film
In a protest rally of thousands of people against the movie, the head of Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hassan Nasrullah, warned America about the movie. Mr. In his speech, Nasrullah called on the United States to stop broadcasting the controversial film.
He said, “America needs to understand that if the film is released in full, it will have terrible consequences for the world. Every country's government should shut down any website that has that movie.' Besides, people protested the film in different places like Philippines, Yemen, West Bank, etc. All in all, more than a dozen people, including the US ambassador, have been killed in various acts of violence since September 11. Hundreds were injured.
Meanwhile, YouTube has informed the BBC that they are not in favor of removing the video as it does not violate their policy. However, they have stopped promoting such videos only in those countries where they are illegal. In addition, YouTube itself has stopped the promotion of that particular video in countries like India, Indonesia, Libya etc.
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