YouTube to be blocked in Egypt over anti-Islam film

An Egyptian administrative court ordered Google's YouTube suspended for a month as a penalty for broadcasting the controversial film "Innocence of Muslims," which mocks the prophet Muhammad, according to a Reuters report.

The 13-minute film, originally uploaded to YouTube in July 2012, was a trailer for a movie produced in the U.S. It denigrates the prophet Muhammad as a buffoonish molester, and it sparked violence and outrage throughout Muslim countries in September of 2012.

At the time of the unrest last fall, Google determined that "Innocence of Muslims" did not violate YouTube's community standards guidelines governing the United States. The company did block the film in countries where it was deemed illegal when riots broke out. According to YouTube:

We work hard to create a community everyone can enjoy and which also enables people to express different opinions. This can be a challenge because what's OK in one country can be offensive elsewhere. This video -- which is widely available on the Web -- is clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube. However, we've restricted access to it in countries where it is illegal, such as India and Indonesia, as well as in Libya and Egypt given the very sensitive situations in these two countries. This approach is entirely consistent with principles we first laid out in 2007.

The video is currently available on YouTube, with the warning: "The following content has been identified by the YouTube community as being potentially offensive or inappropriate. Viewer discretion is advised."

A representative for Google stated: "We have received nothing from the judge or government related to this matter." We'll update this story when we have more information.