Email
Print
Save
August 1, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese authorities have banned, the YouTube, a video sharing website joining other five countries in the world.
Since 22 July, Internet users in Sudan have been unable to access the site, instead receiving an error message stating that the site was blocked by the National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC).
Sudan is the latest in a list of countries that has banned YouTube, a list that includes Turkey, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, and Syria.
A Cairo based Arab rights network, The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), denounced the ban and urged the government to lift it and to put an end to its policy of prohibiting the circulation of information on the Internet.
Sudan did not provide any explanation for ban. However YouTube has recently become a key tool for political activists.
A number of video clips have been posted with footage of Sudanese security personnel beating and torturing minors, who were arrested and detained following the 10 May armed attack on the capital, Khartoum, by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels.
Mass arrests in Khartoum of perceived supporters of the Darfur rebel group followed the attack.
The blocking of YouTube was criticised throughout the country and a number of journalists and activists have launched online protest campaigns.
(ST)
Latest Comments & Analysis
National unity: a project for each and every South Sudanese 2013-05-21 14:23:01 By Jacob K. Lupai May 21, 2013 - South Sudan has just attained independence from an imposed unity that had failed miserably to take into account the objective realities on the ground. In the old (...)
Unity and reconciliation necessary for sustainable peace in Darfur 2013-05-21 14:19:47 By Adeeb Yousif May 20, 2013 -The biggest challenge in the Darfur conflict today is divisions. These divisions have created misunderstanding and mistrust within Darfurian society. Moreover they (...)
The Invasion of Abyei: two years of more agony 2013-05-20 05:39:13 By Luka Biong Deng May 19, 2013 - On 21st May 2013, the people of Abyei have spent two years of more agony and they will remember again the sad memories of how their lives and livelihoods were (...)
MORE