Moroccan bloggers campaign against YouTube ban

01/06/2007

Moroccan bloggers united in protest after the popular video sharing site YouTube was temporarily banned in the country. Their efforts drew the attention of world media, and access to the site was restored.

[censureinternetaumaroc.com] Moroccan bloggers pool their resources to petition the government to lift its ban on YouTube and other sites.

Moroccan bloggers weren't happy about the banning of popular video sharing site YouTube in Morocco. Although access to the site was restored Wednesday (May 30th), and telecom officials assured it had been a technical error, many believe the week-long ban tarnished the country’s image.

Washington-based Moroccan blogger Adil Ski wished to see the people responsible "reprimanded in proportion with the damage caused from ban. The news has made its way to BBC, New York Times, Washington Post and a plethora of other news outlets in the world, causing an unwanted negative advertising of a Kingdom that seeks to replenish its image and join the club of modern and free societies."

He continued, "Officials behind the ban have caused more harm to the Kingdom than the video contents they were trying hard to censor. The authorities have to identify which department or persons were behind the idea and sack them if they really care about sending a message to the world that Morocco doesn't deserve to be on the infamous club of countries that block information from reaching their citizens."

Blogger Mohamed Drissi Bakhkhat noted that "after the blocking of many websites and software… now it's YouTube's turn... what's next? By censoring YouTube, Morocco joins countries like Iran, where YouTube is banned for good. Morocco is one of the very few countries in the world (maybe the only one!) that censor Google Earth (since august 2006)!"

Also commenting on the ban, Youssef from the blog Maghrebism wrote that if "the state of Morocco tries to portray itself as a liberal and open Muslim country", then there "is no reason in keeping up this charade if in the meantime the government practices the same tactics as the other countries in the region. The king [and the] government have to realize that progress is not only words. Saying that you’re progressing is not enough. You actually have to take action to progress."

Maroc Telecom's justification that a "technical glitch" prevented access to YouTube for five days left bloggers unconvinced. Many claimed victory over censorship when access to the site was finally restored.

"What is truly amazing is how bloggers managed to mobilise so quickly," wrote Taamarbuuta in the Morocco Report. "This afternoon, I found that several international news sources had picked up the story, no doubt because of the fact that bloggers in three (or more) languages managed to pool their resources, e-mail each other, start up petitions, make incessant posts (which we then managed to get put up on Global Voices), starting an incredibly effective chain reaction."

According to Youssef, who spearheaded the campaign to lift the blockage, the battle against censorship is not over yet. He blogged, "Google Earth and Livejournal are still blocked and this story will only end when they unblock those 2 sites as well. But we do have reason to celebrate because we screamed loud enough to make our voices heard. Et voila, the result."