Bangladesh authorities blocked the access to YouTube on early Tuesday as the video-sharing website failed to remove the contentious movie that sparked violent protests across the Muslim world.
An official of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission said that they had decided to block You Tube in consultation with the government.
Earlier, the commission, on behalf of the Bangladesh government, on Monday sent an email to the Google’s authorities, asking them to remove the film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ from YouTube domains covering Bangladesh as it ‘mocks’ Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
BTRC’s acting chairman Giasuddin Ahmed confirmed the correspondence with Google to New Age.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said she would urge the United States to ban the screening of the film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ which reportedly portrays Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as a buffoon.
Opposition leader Khaleda Zia on Monday urged the US government to ban the film and punish its director for degrading Islam and the Prophet.
The film sparked off violent protests in the Middle East with agitators attacking Western embassies, including that of the US, in Libya and Egypt. A US ambassador was killed in a rocket attack in in Libya.
Protesters set on fire the US flag in Bangladesh, too, as several Islamist organisations took to the street over the issue.
The Bangladesh government on Saturday officially protested against the release of the film.
In the wake of the protests, the video clip was removed from YouTube domains covering India, Egypt and Libya. The Afghan government has blocked YouTube while Indonesia has also written to Google to withdraw the video clip.
Courtesy of New Age
