YouTube’s decision not to remove the film that has outraged the Islamic world has seen a lot of criticisms. Will pulling the film out be tantamount to freedom of speech that was guaranteed by the constitution? Some may say yes, while others will say no.
In Iran, officials have blocked access not only to YouTube, but the whole Google world, including Gmail in protest for the company’s continued showing of the trailer of the Innocence of Muslims and the subsequent release of the film’s full version earlier this week.
According to an official in charge of online censorship and computer crimes Abdolsamad Khoramabadi, “Google and Gmail will be filtered throughout the country until further notice.”
With the blocking of Google, Iran is pushing for a local approach to emails and search engines.
According to Reporters Without Borders, last September Iranians received an SMS message that is inviting them to use the government backed email service, Iran.ir. Iranians have to give their name, address, phone number and ID card number to authorities then approve the application.
It search engine will also scour Persian sites instead of doing a search all throughout the WorldWideWeb.
Will Google services be back in Iran in the future? We will soon find out.
Image Source: gizbot.com
