A 30-day YouTube block has been ordered by an Egyptian court over the 14-minute trailer to the anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims.” Egypt’s new constitution bans the broadcast of offensive films that insult the Islamic religion and Islamic prophets, reports Fox News on Feb. 9, 2013.
The lawsuit to ban YouTube access for a limited time was filed by lawyer Mohammed Hamid Salim who argued that YouTube refused to remove the film even though it violated Egypt’s new constitutional ban on anti-Islam films. Egypt’s new constitution also bans other films that are offensive in nature and go against Islamic beliefs.
Last year, protestors in Cairo expressed their rage about the film by climbing U.S. embassy’s walls and bringing down the American flag.
Cairo’s Judge Hassouna Tawfiq ruled in favor of lawyer Mohammed Hamid Salim and ordered the Egyptian government to block access to YouTube for 30 days.
“YouTube's parent company, Google, declined requests to remove the video from the website last year, but restricted access to it in certain countries, including Egypt, Libya and Indonesia, because it says the video broke laws in those countries. At the height of the protests in September, YouTube was ordered blocked in several countries, including Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah issued an order blocking all websites with access to the anti-Islam film in the conservative kingdom.”
Saturday’s ruling to block YouTube access for 30 days can be appealed, however, and it remains to be seen if the temporary YouTube ban will be enforced.
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