Saudi Arabia blocks YouTube over anti-Mohammad film furor

Gulf power latest Muslim state to put curbs on Internet following release of trailer for film

19 September 2012, 12:17 am
Protesters destroy an American flag pulled down during clashes with police near the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, as part of widespread anger across the Muslim world about a film ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s state-owned press agency reports that King Abdullah has ordered the blocking of all websites with access to an anti-Islam film that has sparked protests across the Muslim world.

An Associated Press reporter in Saudi Arabia reported that the online video sharing site YouTube was inaccessible Tuesday evening.

This comes after the Saudi Press Agency reported the kingdom sent a request to Google Inc., YouTube’s owner, to “veil” all links containing the video, which was produced in the United States and which ridicules the Prophet Mohammad.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Google has blocked access to the video in Libya and Egypt following violence there, and in Indonesia and India because it says the video broke laws in those countries.

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