YouTube Blocked in...Thailand

 By 
Pete Cashmore
 on 
YouTube Blocked in...Thailand
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Update: The commenters have spoken. The next country to block YouTube will be Vietnam.

Nope, not Turkey this time. Not Brazil either. From this Friday to late Saturday afternoon, YouTube fans in Thailand found the site redirecting to MICT, the government agency responsible for Internet censorship in that country. Some users could gain access at one point by excluding the "www.", and later the entire site was restored. Thailand has been known to censor TV and websites it deems offensive - when controversy arises over a blocked site, it is often reinstated, say Thai bloggers.

No reason was given for the block, although there's speculation that the ban may be related to clips from a CNN interview that features Thailand's ex-Prime Minister Thaksin - Thaksin was ousted by the Thai military and the regime isn't happy about Thaksin getting media exposure.

To celebrate the bizarre actions of governments and judges around the world, Mashable will award a free cookie if you can guess the next country or state to block its citizens from accessing YouTube. For no particular reason, I call Belgium.

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