YouTube Banned In Turkey (Again)

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    Date: 
    3 November 2010

    The battle between YouTube and Turkish officials continued this week as Turkey reportedly unblocked and then re-blocked the Google-owned video site in the country over unflattering videos of the country's political leaders.

    Turkey re-instated a ban on YouTube this week, days after a 2.5-year ban was lifted last Saturday, according to a state-run news agency. On Tuesday night, a Turkish court banned YouTube again, this time over an old video purportedly showing former opposition leader Deniz Baykal in a hotel room with someone other than his wife. Baykal was forced to resign over the video in May, according to The Guardian.

    Scott Rubin, Google's head of public policy and communications strategy for EMEA, said the company was investigating the reported ban.

    "As always, we are open to discussing with Turkish authorities any concerns they may have about our services. If there are videos that they-or anyone else-believe may violate our Community Guidelines, it's easy to flag the video," Rubin said.