: “Testimony of Nicole Wong, Deputy General Counsel, Google Inc., U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law Hearing on ‘Global Internet Freedom: Corporate Responsibility and the Rule of Law’

May 20, 2008 “

“YouTube has been blocked in Turkey repeatedly over the past year because of videos deemed insulting to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founding father of modern Turkey, and other videos deemed by the Turkish government to be threatening to the state, such as videos promoting an independent Kurdistan. Under Article 301 of Turkish law, it is a crime to denigrate Turkishness, to threaten the unity of the Turkish state, or to defame Ataturk. As a result, Turkish courts have ordered the entire YouTube site blocked multiple times, and for several days, because of videos deemed illegal in Turkey. While we have been engaged with Turkish officials for many months, it has been very difficult to even know what videos have been the source of complaint.“