Audio story: Turkey's ban on YouTube

10/09/2010

In Turkey, the ban on YouTube is an upshot of the collision between the country's restrictive legal system and the Information Age.

By Alexander Christie-Miller for Southeast European Times in Istanbul -- 10/09/10

As many as 6,000 websites are blocked by Turkey. [AFP]

For more than three years now, internet users in Turkey have been blocked from the video-sharing site YouTube because of clips that allegedly insult the country's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Since Ankara drafted its first internet laws in 2007, the number of sites blocked has increased from 433 a year after the ban, to as many as 6,000 sites today.

In the case of YouTube, there's no solution in sight. The company refuses to accept Turkey's demand that it remove the videos altogether, rather than merely blocking access to them.

This text will be replaced

Transcript | Podcast

This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.

Vote

We welcome your comments on SETimes's articles.

It is our hope that you will use this forum to interact with other readers across Southeast Europe. In order to keep this experience interesting, we ask you to follow the rules outlined in the comments policy. By submitting comments, you are consenting to these rules. While SETimes.com encourages discussion on all subjects, including sensitive ones, the comments posted are solely the views of those submitting them. SETimes.com does not necessarily endorse or agree with the ideas, views, or opinions voiced in these comments. SETimes.com welcomes constructive discussion but discourages the use of copy-pasted materials, unaccompanied links and one-line slogans. This is a moderated forum. Comments deemed abusive, offensive, or those containing profanity may not be published.