Huffington Post Among Nepal's Banned Websites, Connection to Haiti Cholera Outbreak Possible

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    Date: 
    17 November 2010

    The Nepalese government has been in discussions about banning particular websites for several months, but the ban was only actualized today. It mostly targets porn sites, but others, such as the punk band The Sex Pistols' Web page, was included in the ban. Among the 60 outlawed destinations is the Huffington Post.

    The news comes at a time when the government is largely in flux, as it has been for months, and the Interior Ministry spokesman, Jai Mukunda Khanal, is the representative who broke the news to the public today.

    "The websites have been banned because they violate public decency and courtesy," Jai Mukunda Khanal said. The ruling also applies to messages posted on Facebook and Twitter. Anyone displaying, transmitting, and broadcasting materials deemed indecent--or post messages defaming political leaders or other public figures--could be jailed for up to five years and fined as much as $1,420, according to the AP.