Censorship
Register
No edit summary
No edit summary
Tags: Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit
 
(35 intermediate revisions by 9 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
'''YouTube''' is the most visited online video-sharing website in the world. It was blocked on many countries due of many reasons. It is currently blocked in China, Iran, Sudan, South Sudan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Syria, Eritea and North Korea. It is the second most-visited website in the world.
+
'''YouTube''' is the most visited online video-sharing website in the world. It was blocked in many countries due of many reasons. It is currently blocked in mainland [[Eritrea]], [[Iran]], [[North Korea]], [[South Sudan]], and [[Turkmenistan]]. It is the second most-visited website in the world.
   
==Countries where access to YouTube had been blocked before==
+
==Countries that have blocked access to YouTube==
  +
*[[Afghanistan]] (12 September - 1 December 2012 due to ''[[Innocence of Muslims]]'')
===Afganistan===
 
  +
*[[Armenia]] (8 March - 8 April 2008)
YouTube was blocked in Afganistan on September 12, 2012 due of the hosting of the trailer to the controversial film about Muhammad, Innocence of Muslims, which the authorities considered to be blasphemous. YouTube was unblocked on Afganistan on December 1, 2012.
 
  +
*[[Bangladesh]] (9-21 March 2009; 17 September 2012 - 5 June 2013 due to ''[[Innocence of Muslims]]'')
===Armenia===
 
  +
*[[Brazil]] (6-9 January 2007)
Following the disputed February 2008 presidential elections, the Armenian government blocked Internet users' access to YouTube only for a month. Armenians had used YouTube at time of the blocking to publicize video of alleged police brutality against anti-government protesters.
 
  +
*[[China]] (October 16, 2007 - March 22, 2008; March 24, 2009 - October 22, 2023;
===Bangladesh===
 
  +
*October 23, 2023 - present, but it was later unblocked later that day)
In March 2009, YouTube was blocked in Bangladesh after a recording of an alleged meeting between the prime minister and army officers was posted revealing anger by the military on how the government was handling a mutiny by border guards in Dhaka. The block for YouTube was lifted on March 21, 2009.
 
  +
*[[Denmark]] (Music on YouTube in Denmark was blocked in July 2020 - present) due to copyright claims by KODA.
  +
*[[Finland]] (Music videos were blocked in Finland on 30 November 2017, but it was later unblocked later that day)
  +
*[[Germany]] (Music videos were blocked in Germany on 31 March 2009 - 31 October 2016)
  +
*[[Indonesia]] (5-10 April; May 2008)
  +
*[[Libya]] (24 January 2010 - November 2011)
  +
*[[Malaysia]] (Videos about the criticism of the Malaysian government were blocked in Malaysia in May 2013)
  +
*[[Morocco]] (25-30 May 2007)
  +
*[[North Korea]] (April 4, 2016 - present)
  +
*[[Pakistan]] (25-27 February 2008; 20-27 May 2010; 17 September 2012 - 6 December 2015 due to ''[[Innocence of Muslims]]'')
  +
*[[Sudan]] (2008; 21 April 2010; 17 September 2012 due to ''[[Innocence of Muslims]]'')
  +
*[[Tajikistan]] (July 2012; 2013 - 2019)
  +
*[[Thailand]] (2006; 8-10 March 2007; 3 April - 30 August 2007)
  +
**Any video prejudicial to Thai royalty is blocked.
  +
*[[Tunisia]] (2007 - 18 December 2010)
  +
*[[Türkiye]] (6-9 March 2007; 5 May 2008 - 30 October 2010; March 27 - May 29, 2014; June 1, 2014; April 6, 2015; 23-25 December 2016)
 
*[[United Arab Emirates]] (August - October 2006)
  +
*[[Uzbekistan]] (15 October 2018)
  +
*[[Venezuela]] (January 21, 2019; February 22, 2019; February 23, 2019; March 6, 2019; April 15, 2019; November 16, 2019)
   
 
==Countries that have restricted access to YouTube==
YouTube was blocked once again on September 17, 2012, due of the controversies regarding the promotional videos for Innocence of Muslims. On June 5, 2013, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission lifted the ban almost after a year.
 
  +
*[[Eritrea]] (2011 - present)
===Brazil===
 
  +
*[[Iran]] (December 3, 2006 - June 12, 2009; September 24, 2012 - January 17, 2016 due to ''[[Innocence of Muslims]]''; January 20, 2016 - present, but it is unblocked on schools and universities for educational purposes in Iran starting from August 2017)
YouTube was sued by Brazilian model and MTV Brasil VJ Daniela Cicarelli, which is the ex-fiancee of the Brazilian footballer Ronaldo) and her boyfriend in January 2007, due of the fact that the website hosted a video recorded paparazzi in which she and her boyfriend were having sexual intercourse on a Spanish beach, although the video did not contain explicit content, but the lawsuit asked that YouTube to be blocked in Brazil until all copies of the video are removed. On Saturday, January 6, 2007, a legal injunction ordered that filters be put in place to prevent users in Brazil from accessing YouTube.
 
  +
*[[Russia]] (28 July - August 2010; 2022 due to the war with Ukraine)
  +
*[[South Sudan]] (2012 - present)
  +
*[[Turkmenistan]] (25 December 2009 - present)
   
  +
==Content guidelines==
The effectiveness of the measure was questioned, since the video was available not only on YouTube, but also on other sites as part of an Internet phenomenon. On January 9, 2007, the same court overturned its previous decision, allowing the filters to be removed. The video footage itself remained banned and was to be removed from YouTube and other sites.
 
  +
===Sensitive content===
  +
Examples of violating YouTube policies that can give YouTubers an age-restriction, strike, or a ban, include videos that may include nudity/sexual content, inappropriate thumbnails, harm to children, graphically depicted/promoted suicide, and highly vulgar language. More info on these guidelines can be found [https://support.google.com/youtube/topic/2803176?hl=en&ref_topic=6151248 here].
   
  +
===Demonetization===
In June 2007, a judge ordered Cicarelli and her boyfriend to pay all court and lawyer costs, as well as R$10,000 (roughly US$3,203) to the three defendants, YouTube, Globo, and iG, citing a lack of good faith in pushing the privacy case when their actions took place in public.
 
  +
Advertiser-friendly content guidelines have caused popular YouTubers who want to earn money from ads to self-censor suggestive elements of their videos to avoid demonetization. Content that are considered not advertiser-friendly include, but not limited to, inappropriate language, violence, adult content, and shocking content, along with more recent topics not yet added to guidelines including usage of copyrighted content and recent controversial issues such as COVID-19. The full list of guidelines can be found [https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6162278?hl=en#zippy= here].
===Finland===
 
Most of the music videos on YouTube were blocked on November 30, 2017 by by Finnish nonprofit performance rights organization Teosto in Finland. According to them, Google blocked the videos because they did not have an agreement to show music videos in Finland. According to Teosto, they and Google have made a temporary agreement to show the videos in the morning of November 30, 2017. The music videos started to return to YouTube and became unblocked in Finland later that day.
 
===Germany===
 
Most of the YouTube videos (including music videos) were blocked by Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte (Society for Musical Performing and Mechanical Reproduction Rights – GEMA), a performance rights organization in Germany, from 2009 until 2016. It was apart of the YouTube and GEMA dispute.
 
   
  +
==External links==
According to a German court in Hamburg, Google's subsidiary YouTube can be held liable for damages when it hosts copyrighted videos without the copyright holder's permission. As a result, music videos for major label artists on YouTube, as well as many videos containing background music, have been unavailable in Germany since the end of March 2009 after the previous agreement had expired and negotiations for a new license agreement were stopped. On October 31, 2016, YouTube and GEMA reached an agreement over royalties, ending a seven-year-long battle of blocking music videos in Germany. Currently, the music videos are unblocked in Germany.
 
  +
*[https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/policies/overview/ Policies overview] at YouTube
  +
*[[w:c:youtube:Countries that have blocked YouTube|Countries that have blocked YouTube]] at Wikitubia: The YouTube Wiki
  +
*{{w|Censorship of YouTube}} at Wikipedia
   
On November 23, 2016, just a month after GEMA unblocked videos on YouTube in Germany, the German Kommission für Zulassung und Aufsicht (Commission for Authorization and Supervision), which is formed by representatives of German public broadcast stations, required PietSmiet & Co., a German let's-player operating his own YouTube channel to get a German broadcast license by April 30, 2017, or else be regarded as an illegal pirate radio broadcaster for livestreaming, even when no radio spectrum use is included. Some YouTubers, even non profit, might fail at the expensive fee for applying a license. On April 30, 2017, the livestreaming channel PietSmietTV went offline. The channel PietSmiet remained online due not providing 24/7 hours of streaming. The channel was mentioned in a requirement of a license.
 
 
In 2019, Article 17 of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market is feared and criticized as censorship, mandatory for all countries of the European Union within two years if adopted.
 
===Indonesia===
 
On April 1, 2008, Indonesian information minister Muhammad Nuh asked YouTube to remove Fitna, a controversial film made by Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders. The government allowed two days for the removal of the video or if the video wasn't removed, then YouTube would be blocked in Indonesia.
 
 
On April 4, following YouTube's failure to remove the video, Nuh asked all Internet service providers to block access to YouTube temporary.
 
 
On April 5, YouTube was briefly blocked for testing by one ISP in Indonesia.
 
 
On April 8, YouTube, along with MySpace, Metacafe, RapidShare, Multiply, LiveLeak, and Fitna's official site, was blocked in Indonesia on all ISPs. The blocking of YouTube was subsequently lifted on April 10.
 
 
There may still have been some blocking in May 2008 according to local Indonesian inhabitants.
 
===Libya===
 
Libya permanently blocked YouTube on January 24, 2010 after it featured videos of demonstrations in the Libyan city of Benghazi by families of detainees who were killed in Abu Salim prison in 1996, as well as videos of family members of Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi at parties. The ban was condemned by Human Rights Watch. In November 2011, after the Libyan Civil War, YouTube was once again allowed in Libya, but it did not launch a local version of the site until in early 2015, making it lifted and unblocked.
 
===Malaysia===
 
In May 2013, videos critical of the Malaysian government were blocked from YouTube in Malaysia despite the government's promises not to censor the internet in Malaysia. Analysis of the network traffic shows that the ISPs were scanning the headers of the users and actively blocking requests to the YouTube video according to the video key.
 
===Morocco===
 
On May 25, 2007, Maroc Telecom ISP blocked access to YouTube, but no reasons why YouTube was blocked in Morocco, but speculations were that it may have been due to videos posted by the pro-separatist Polisario, Western Sahara's independence movement, or due to videos criticizing King Mohammed VI. The ban did not affect the other two ISPs in the country, Wana (now Inwi) and Méditel (now Orange Maroc). The blocking of YouTube on Maroc Telecom was lifted and unblocked on May 30, 2007, after Maroc Telecom unofficially announced that the denied access to the website was a mere as a "technical glitch".
 
===Pakistan===
 
In February 2008, YouTube was blocked by Pakistani Telecommunications Authority (PTA), due of having allegedly because of "blasphemous" videos of Dutch politician Geert Wilders. However, the PTA's block inadvertently knocked out access to YouTube worldwide for two hours on February 25, 2008. YouTube was unblocked on February 27, 2008, after the allegedly blasphemous videos were removed.
 
 
It was blocked once again on May 27, 2010, during the Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, due of having in a bid to contain "blasphemous" material. The ban was lifted and unbloxked on May 27, 2010, after the website removed the objectionable content from its servers at the request of the government. However, individual videos deemed offensive to Muslims that are posted on YouTube will continue to be blocked in Pakistan.
 
 
It was blocked for the third time on September 17, 2012, after the website failed to remove to controversial trailer for the movie Innocence of Muslims, and eventually resulting in a ban due to YouTube's noncompliance.
 
 
On December 11, 2013, PTA asked Google to launch a Pakistani local version of YouTube. However, it would only be offered after the Pakistani government fulfilled some of the undisclosed requirements.
 
 
During the ban a video was released called "Kholo BC" by rappers Adil Omar and Ali Gul Pir opposing the ban.[56] The video went viral and thousands of people supported that the ban is due to political interest.[55]
 
 
On April 21, 2014, Pakistan's Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights approved a resolution to lift and unblock the ban on YouTube.
 
 
On May 6, 2014, the National Assembly unanimously adopted a non-binding resolution to lift and unblock the ban, but as of August 2, 2014 it was still in effect. The ban was lifted due to a technical glitch on December 6, 2015, according to ISPs in Pakistan.
 
 
As of January 18, 2016, the ban has been officially lifted and unblocked, as YouTube has launched a local version of the site for Pakistan.
 
 
On November 25, 2017, the NetBlocks internet measurement platform and Digital Rights Foundation collected evidence of nation-wide blocking of YouTube alongside other social media services, imposed by the government in response to the violent Tehreek-e-Labaik protests. The technical investigation found that many, but not all, major Pakistani fixed-line and mobile service providers implemented the YouTube restriction which was lifted by the PTA the following day when protests abated after the resignation of Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid.
 
===Russia===
 
The video claiming responsibility for the 2010 Moscow Metro bombings, which quickly gained 800,000 views in only four days, was removed, along with all videos of Doku Umarov. Additionally, it turned out that over 300 videos from the Kavkaz Center were removed for having "inappropriate content." Russia was blamed for having pressured YouTube to take such measures.
 
 
On July 28, 2010, a court in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur ordered a local ISP to block access to youtube.com, web.archive.org, and several other websites that it is offering books for downloads, citing extremist materials as the reason. The order was not enforced and was later reversed. YouTube is now available in Russia, as it is no longer blocked.
 
 
On September 4, 2017, Roskomnadzor announced their intention to delete a video released by a popular YouTube channel Nemagia in which bloggers Alexey Pskovitin and Mikhail Pecherskiy described unscrupulous business strategies by Tinkoff Bank.
 
 
In February 2019 as a result of a complaint received by Roskomnadzor, YouTube has demanded that the Ukrainian Centre for Journalist Investigations remove a video about Emir-Usein Kuku, a Crimean Tatar human rights defender who has been arrested by Russian authorities in 2016.
 
===Thailand===
 
YouTube was blocked in 2006 for users with Thai IP addresses. Thai authorities identified that 20 offensive videos were demanded that Google would remove them before it would allow unblocking of all YouTube content.
 
 
On March 8, 2007, YouTube was once again blocked in Thailand, although no official explanation was given for the ban, many bloggers believed the reason for the blocking was a video of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's speech on CNN. YouTube was unblocked and lifted on March 10, 2007.
 
 
On the night of April 3, 2007, YouTube was again blocked in Thailand. The government cited a video on the site that it called "insulting" to King Bhumibol Adulyadej. However, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology said that it would unblock YouTube in a few days, after websites containing references to this video are blocked as opposed to the entire website. Communications Minister Sitthichai Pokai-udom said, "When they decide to withdraw the clip, we will withdraw the ban." Shortly after this incident the Internet technology blog Mashable was blocked from Thailand over the reporting of the YouTube clips in question. YouTube was unblocked on August 30, 2007, after YouTube reportedly agreed to block videos deemed offensive by Thai authorities.
 
 
On September 21, 2007, Thai authorities announced they were seeking a court order to block videos that had appeared on YouTube accusing Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda of attempting to manipulate the royal succession to make himself Thailand's king.
 
===Tunisia===
 
YouTube was blocked in Tunisia for serveral years before the 2011 Tunisian Revolution, after the 2011 Tunisian Revolution, it was later lifted.
 
===Turkey===
 
Turkish courts have ordered blocks on access to the YouTube website. This first occurred when Türk Telekom blocked the site in compliance with decision 2007/384 issued by the Istanbul 1st Criminal Court of Peace (Sulh Ceza Mahkeme) on March 6, 2007. The court decision was based on videos insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in an escalation of what the Turkish media referred to as a "virtual war" of insults between Greek, Armenian, and Turkish YouTube members. YouTube was sued for "insulting Turkishness" and access to the site was suspended pending the removal of the video. YouTube lawyers sent proof of the video's removal to the Istanbul public prosecutor and access was restored on March 9, 2007. However, other videos similarly deemed insulting were repeatedly posted, and several staggered bans followed, issued by the different courts.
 
 
The block in accordance with court decision 2008/468 of the Ankara 11th Criminal Court of Peace was issued on April 24, 2008, which cited that YouTube had not acquired a certificate of authorization in Turkey, was not implemented by Türk Telekom until on May 5, 2008.
 
 
Although YouTube was officially banned in Turkey, the website was still accessible by modifying connection parameters to use alternative DNS servers, and it was the eighth most popular website in Turkey according to Alexa records. Responding to criticisms of the courts' bans, in November 2008 the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated "I do access the site. Go ahead and do the same."
 
 
In June 2010, Turkey's president Abdullah Gül used his Twitter account to express disapproval of the country's blocking of YouTube, which also affected access from Turkey to many Google services. Gül said he had instructed officials to find legal ways of allowing access.
 
 
Turkey lifted the ban on October 30, 2010. In November 2010, a video of the Turkish politician Deniz Baykal caused the site to be blocked once again briefly, and the site was threatened with a new shutdown if it did not remove the video.
 
 
On March 27, 2014, Turkey banned YouTube again. This time, they did so mere hours after a video was posted there claiming to depict Turkey's foreign minister, spy chief, and a top general discussing scenarios that could lead to their country's military attacking jihadist militants in Syria. The ban was ordered to be lifted by a series of court rulings, starting April 9, 2014, but Turkey defied the court orders and kept access to YouTube blocked. On May 29 the Constitutional Court of Turkey ruled that the block violated the constitutional right to freedom of expression and ordered that YouTube access be restored.
 
 
As of the morning of June 1, 2014, access to YouTube remained blocked in Turkey. But during the day, access appeared to have been restored and lifted.
 
 
On April 6, 2015, YouTube was again briefly blocked, alongside Facebook and Twitter, due to the widespread posting of footage of a prosecutor killed during a hostage crisis.
 
 
On December 23, 2016, YouTube again became briefly inaccessible in Turkey according to reports validated by internet monitoring group Turkey Blocks after footage that allegedly showed the immolation of Turkish soldiers by jihadists was shared on the site. The site is now accessible again as of December 25. As of 2017, YouTube is unblocked in Turkey.
 
===United Arab Emirates===
 
The UAE's Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) briefly blocked YouTube from August 2006 to October 2006 due to increasing concerns regarding the presence of adult content in the website. According to the TRA, the block was done due to YouTube not categorizing and separating adult pornographic content from normal content. The ban was lifted and unblocked in October 2006.
 
===Uzbekistan===
 
YouTube was blocked in Uzbekistan for unknown reasons on October 15, 2018. It was lifted and unblocked later.
 
===Venezuela===
 
During the Venezuelan presidential crisis of 2019, YouTube has been heavily censored regularly by Venezuela's state-owned internet service provider, CANTV. The blocking of YouTube and social media websites by the Venezuelan government were intended to suppress information relating to Juan Guaidó and the pro-opposition National Assembly. This mainly affects the access of streaming platforms like Periscope, YouTube, Bing, and other Google services.
 
 
On January 21, 2019, the day of a Bolivarian National Guard rebellion in the Cotiza neighborhood of Caracas, internet access to some social media websites, including YouTube was reported to be blocked for CANTV users. The Venezuelan government denied and it had engaged in blocking.
 
 
During the Venezuela Aid Live concert on February 22, access to YouTube was blocked for CANTV users during the concert, alongside with National Geographic and Antena 3 that were removed from cable and satellite TV for broadcasting the concert. Guaidó speech during the February 23 entry of the humanitarian aid, YouTube was once again blocked.
 
 
The longest block of YouTube to date started during a National Assembly session on March 6, lasting only 20 hours.
 
 
The YouTube live stream of the press conference of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez on April 15, 2019 was disrupted for CANTV users.
 
 
The YouTube restrictions returned with the return of the protests on November 16.
 
==Countries where access to YouTube has been blocked==
 
===China===
 
YouTube was blocked in China for over 5 months, from October 16, 2007 to March 22, 2008.
 
 
YouTube was blocked once again in China from March 24, 2009. Since then, YouTube has been inaccessible from Mainland China, but however, it is accessible in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and by using VPN. Since 2018, if the term "YouTube" was searched on Baidu, a text "According to local regulations and policies, some results cannot be shown" will be displayed. Even though YouTube is blocked under the Great Firewall, many Chinese media including CCTV and more have their official YouTube account. In spite of the ban, Alexa ranks YouTube as the 11th most visited website in China.
 
===Denmark===
 
Access to music on YouTube in Denmark was blocked since July 2020, following a dispute between YouTube and the rights society KODA over royalty fees.
 
===Eritea===
 
YouTube is blocked in Eritea since 2011 by some ISPs, although a spokesperson for Freedom House speculated this was due to bandwidth considerations.
 
===Iran===
 
On December 3, 2006, YouTube was blocked in Iran temporarily along with some other websites. The YouTube block came after a video was posted online about a Iranian soap opera star having sex. It was lifted in 2009 after the Iran's 2009 presidental election. In 2012, Iran reblocked access after the controversial trailer for the movie Innocence of Muslims was posted online and released on YouTube.
 
 
On January 17, 2016, some users stated that YouTube is unblocked in Iran, although it was blocked once again since January 20, 2016. Iran lifted the ban for schools and universities in August 2017 for educational purposes. Some celebrities, such as Khatami uses this website.
 
===North Korea===
 
YouTube is fully blocked in North Korea since April 2016, due of the country laws regarding the internet and its accessibility, and the North Korean government has warned that anyone who tries to access it is subject to punishment.
 
===Sudan===
 
YouTube was blocked in Sudan in 2008 for unknown reasons, but it was later lifted. It was blocked once again in April 21, 2010 following the 2010 presidental election. It also blocked YouTube's owner, Google. It was later lifted.
 
 
It was blocked once again in Sudan on September 17, 2012 due of the upload of the trailer of the controversial movie named Innocence of Muslims. The block was later lifted. It is currently blocked in Sudan.
 
===South Sudan===
 
YouTube was blocked in South Sudan because of controversy relating to Innocence of Muslims, a controversial anti-Islamic film.
 
===Tajikistan===
 
In July 2012, the Tajik authorities blocked YouTube in response to uploaded videos showing protests against the militant clashes. Eight days later, the ban was lifted.
 
 
In the same year, the Tajik government blocked the website again, this time because of videos depicting the president Emomali Rakhmon which were deemed to be offensive to the government.
 
 
In 2013, Tajikistan blocked YouTube for a third time because of a video which depicts President Rakhmon dancing and singing out of tune at his son's wedding party in 2007. It was no longer lifted.
 
===Turkmenistan===
 
On December 25, 2009, for security reasons, YouTube was blocked in Turkmenistan by the only ISP in the country, Turkmentelecom. Other websites, such as LiveJournal and more, were also blocked.
 
[[Category:Internet]]
 
 
[[Category:Internet censorship]]
 
[[Category:Internet censorship]]
[[Category:Afganistan censorship]]
+
[[Category:Websites]]
[[Category:Armenia censorship]]
+
[[Category:Afghan censorship]]
[[Category:Bangladesh censorship]]
+
[[Category:Armenian censorship]]
[[Category:Brazil censorship]]
+
[[Category:Bangladeshi censorship]]
[[Category:Finland censorship]]
+
[[Category:Brazilian censorship]]
[[Category:Germany censorship]]
+
[[Category:Chinese censorship]]
[[Category:Indonesia censorship]]
+
[[Category:Danish censorship]]
[[Category:Libya censorship]]
+
[[Category:Eritrean censorship]]
[[Category:Malaysia censorship]]
+
[[Category:Finnish censorship]]
[[Category:Morocco censorship]]
+
[[Category:German censorship]]
[[Category:Pakistan censorship]]
+
[[Category:Indonesian censorship]]
[[Category:Russia censorship]]
+
[[Category:Iranian censorship]]
[[Category:Thailand censorship]]
+
[[Category:Libyan censorship]]
[[Category:Tunisia censorship]]
+
[[Category:Malaysian censorship]]
[[Category:Turkey censorship]]
+
[[Category:Moroccan censorship]]
 
[[Category:North Korean censorship]]
 
[[Category:Pakistani censorship]]
 
[[Category:Russian censorship]]
 
[[Category:South Sudanese censorship]]
 
[[Category:Sudanese censorship]]
 
[[Category:Thai censorship]]
 
[[Category:Tunisian censorship]]
 
[[Category:Tajikistani censorship]]
 
[[Category:Turkish censorship]]
 
[[Category:Turkmenistani censorship]]
 
[[Category:United Arab Emirates censorship]]
 
[[Category:United Arab Emirates censorship]]
[[Category:Uzbekistan censorship]]
+
[[Category:Uzbekistani censorship]]
[[Category:Venezuela censorship]]
+
[[Category:Venezuelan censorship]]
[[Category:China censorship]]
 
[[Category:Denmark censorship]]
 
[[Category:Eritea censorship]]
 
[[Category:Iran censorship]]
 
[[Category:North Korea censorship]]
 
[[Category:Sudan censorship]]
 
[[Category:South Sudan censorship]]
 
[[Category:Tajikistan censorship]]
 
[[Category:Turkmenistan censorship]]
 
[[Category:Websites]]
 

Latest revision as of 06:02, 23 October 2023

YouTube is the most visited online video-sharing website in the world. It was blocked in many countries due of many reasons. It is currently blocked in mainland Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, South Sudan, and Turkmenistan. It is the second most-visited website in the world.

Countries that have blocked access to YouTube[]

  • Afghanistan (12 September - 1 December 2012 due to Innocence of Muslims)
  • Armenia (8 March - 8 April 2008)
  • Bangladesh (9-21 March 2009; 17 September 2012 - 5 June 2013 due to Innocence of Muslims)
  • Brazil (6-9 January 2007)
  • China (October 16, 2007 - March 22, 2008; March 24, 2009 - October 22, 2023;
  • October 23, 2023 - present, but it was later unblocked later that day)
  • Denmark (Music on YouTube in Denmark was blocked in July 2020 - present) due to copyright claims by KODA.
  • Finland (Music videos were blocked in Finland on 30 November 2017, but it was later unblocked later that day)
  • Germany (Music videos were blocked in Germany on 31 March 2009 - 31 October 2016)
  • Indonesia (5-10 April; May 2008)
  • Libya (24 January 2010 - November 2011)
  • Malaysia (Videos about the criticism of the Malaysian government were blocked in Malaysia in May 2013)
  • Morocco (25-30 May 2007)
  • North Korea (April 4, 2016 - present)
  • Pakistan (25-27 February 2008; 20-27 May 2010; 17 September 2012 - 6 December 2015 due to Innocence of Muslims)
  • Sudan (2008; 21 April 2010; 17 September 2012 due to Innocence of Muslims)
  • Tajikistan (July 2012; 2013 - 2019)
  • Thailand (2006; 8-10 March 2007; 3 April - 30 August 2007)
    • Any video prejudicial to Thai royalty is blocked.
  • Tunisia (2007 - 18 December 2010)
  • Türkiye (6-9 March 2007; 5 May 2008 - 30 October 2010; March 27 - May 29, 2014; June 1, 2014; April 6, 2015; 23-25 December 2016)
  • United Arab Emirates (August - October 2006)
  • Uzbekistan (15 October 2018)
  • Venezuela (January 21, 2019; February 22, 2019; February 23, 2019; March 6, 2019; April 15, 2019; November 16, 2019)

Countries that have restricted access to YouTube[]

  • Eritrea (2011 - present)
  • Iran (December 3, 2006 - June 12, 2009; September 24, 2012 - January 17, 2016 due to Innocence of Muslims; January 20, 2016 - present, but it is unblocked on schools and universities for educational purposes in Iran starting from August 2017)
  • Russia (28 July - August 2010; 2022 due to the war with Ukraine)
  • South Sudan (2012 - present)
  • Turkmenistan (25 December 2009 - present)

Content guidelines[]

Sensitive content[]

Examples of violating YouTube policies that can give YouTubers an age-restriction, strike, or a ban, include videos that may include nudity/sexual content, inappropriate thumbnails, harm to children, graphically depicted/promoted suicide, and highly vulgar language. More info on these guidelines can be found here.

Demonetization[]

Advertiser-friendly content guidelines have caused popular YouTubers who want to earn money from ads to self-censor suggestive elements of their videos to avoid demonetization. Content that are considered not advertiser-friendly include, but not limited to, inappropriate language, violence, adult content, and shocking content, along with more recent topics not yet added to guidelines including usage of copyrighted content and recent controversial issues such as COVID-19. The full list of guidelines can be found here.

External links[]