Egypt refuses to block YouTube

Egypt’s teleommunications ministry and a rights group have filed appeals to reverse an order by a court aimed at blocking the video-sharing website YouTube.

This week the ministry said it could not block access to YouTube due to high technical costs, also saying that it cannot monitor the content of social websites.

The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression group has called the verdict “collective punishment.”

Earlier in February, Judge Hassouna Tawfiq ordered YouTube to be blocked in Cairo where the first anti-US demonstrations against a blasphemous film insulting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), began on September 11, 2012 before spreading to over 60 countries, with protesters storming US embassies and torching US flags.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the blasphemous movie was written and produced by an anti-Islamic Israeli-American named Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, using the pseudonym of Sam Bacile.

The Journal added that, Bacile, who is a real estate developer, has admitted that he produced the film, which he said was made with the help of Jewish donations totaling $5 million.

SZH/JR