14 DAY TRIAL // Google and YouTube are once again in trouble after a video uploaded by the Dutch MP Geert Wilders caused protests in Indonesia as lots of Muslims considered the clip offensive for their nation. Geert Wilders became famous for his criticism of the Islam culture because he had always struggled to stop Muslims from moving into Netherlands. Here's one's of his statements in order to understand what I mean: "Take a walk down the street and see where this is going. You no longer feel like you are living in your own country. There is a battle going on and we have to defend ourselves. Before you know it there will be more mosques than churches!" (according to Wikipedia).
Getting back to the video posted on YouTube, the 17-minute clip recorded an important audience straight from the first hours of availability. Because Muslims' reaction wasn't quite peaceful, the Indonesian government requested YouTube to remove the clip otherwise it will ban the entire website by the end of the week. Obviously, this would be done with the help of the local Internet service providers which are supposed to restrict residents' access to the webpage.
According to AFP, the Indonesian government didn't receive a response from the video sharing service, so the ban is imminent. However, the protests continue, as more and more people access and comment the video. "The 17-minute film, 'Fitna', combines images of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and the 2004 Madrid bombings with quotes from the Koran, Islam's holy book," AFP informs.
Similar problems in the past
YouTube encountered similar problems in the past when several clips posted on the website had attracted all kinds of reactions. The most known issue occurred in Thailand, the country that decided to block the access of Thai users on YouTube's page after the video sharing service refused to remove a clip regarded as offensive for the king of the country. After a long period of unavailability, YouTube entered negotiations with the Thai government, period in which the service went online and then back offline. In order to remove the ban, Google's officials had to remove the offensive video and impose strict restrictions for other Thai users uploading clips on the website.
A similar case also took place in Turkey, after a video posted by a YouTube user made fun of the Turkish people and insulted them. However, the temporary ban was removed faster than in the Thai case because YouTube agreed to delete the video from their database.
