Google blocks 16 anti-Islam clips in Indonesia

BANGALORE, INDIA: Acceding to the Indonesian government's request, Google has apparently blocked access to the controversial short film, Innocence of Muslims, which was available on YouTube in the country.

A recent report on The Jakarta Post - http://bit.ly/P5OtwJ - states that the search giant, which runs the vido-sharing site, took cognizance of the government's request and decided to block the video that denigrated Islam and the Prophet Mohammad, and had triggered massive protests around the globe.

It quoted Indonesian Communication and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring, saying, "My ministry and YouTube have been engaged in cooperation... I submitted the request in the morning, (and) in the afternoon YouTube blocked 16 links to the clip."

According to the report, Sembiring added the blocking measures only applied to Internet users in Indonesia. "The government continues to submit to YouTube new links to be blocked," Tifatul had been quoted saying.

Apparently, he said that he had watched a two-minute version of the video, but didn't find anything wrong in YouTube itself, hence ruled out blocking the entire site.

Some other countries where the video is blocked include Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

©CyberMedia News