General

Russian court bans access to YouTube

Khabarovsk judge sanctions website over “extremist” video

A court in Russia’s Khabarovsk region has ordered Internet provider Rosnet to block YouTube after it carried a single video containing “extremist” content. The ban is the result of YouTube hosting “Russia For Russians,” an ultra-nationalist video which was added to the federal justice ministry’s list of banned extremist materials after a separate court decision in November. The court also banned access to four websites that carried copies of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. The ban has incited anger from the Russian blogosphere, many of whom argue the move is a slippery slope towards tighter Internet censorship across the country. China, Pakistan, Turkey and Iran have also banned YouTube.

The Guardian

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