Turkey Blocks YouTube

A court in the eastern city of Sivas, Turkey, ordered the country’s telecom company to block YouTube access from the country, according to AP.

The ban comes after the video site hosted a video insulting Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, as well as President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the army.

Apparently, it’s a big deal in Turkey to insult Ataturk and this is the second time the country has blocked YouTube for allowing critical videos of him.

In response, a media advocacy group has criticized Turkey.

“Blocking an entire Web site because of a few videos is a disproportionate measure,” the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said. “We urge the authorities to reverse this decision.”

If you’re interested, here are all the videos that mention Ataturk–good luck finding the offending clip!

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