A court in Egypt has ordered for video sharing site YouTube to be blocked for hosting a video deemed blasphemous by a number of parties. Access to YouTube will be restricted over a 30-day period as it continues to offer the film “Innocence of Muslims” for viewing, something which has already provoked strong reactions in the last few months.
The National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Egypt has already said it will be abiding by the ruling once it has received the verdict from the court, according to state news agency MENA via Reuters. A spokesperson for Google in Cairo said to the agency that the company has yet to receive a formal notification of the verdict.
The film has already caused headaches for Google since it first appeared on the service. Pakistan banned YouTube over the video, after Google prevented it’s access to users in India, Indonesia, Libya, and Egypt before being removed. At the time, Iran blocked access to YouTube, Google, and Gmail in protest to the video, with the blocking of search and e-mail being an attempt at preventing citizens from accessing the video through other means. Iran then lifted the block on Gmail after officials within the government complained.
