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Morocco: YouTube is Back; Maroc Telecom Subscribers are Elated

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Morocco, Digital Activism, Media & Journalism, Protest, Technology

MidEastYouth [1] broke the news this evening that YouTube, which had been blocked by Maroc Telecom, Morocco's leading internet provider, has been restored to subscribers. It seems that the blogging community, with the help of bigger sites like this one, helped to get the story noticed by majors like Reporters Without Borders [2]. Youssef [3] of MidEastYouth says:
“As of today, all customers of Maroc Telecom gained back access to Youtube.
Why? Because the Moroccan blogosphere finally woke up and protested the ban.
We collectively started screaming and joined hands in letting the world know how Maroc Telecom treats freedom of speech.
That it treats freedom of speech even worse than the government.
It is not an all-out victory though. Google Earth and Livejournal are still blocked.
But we at least overturned the Youtube-bock, with our own voices and actions.
Nearly all active Moroccan bloggers protested and helped out. Male, female, black, white, Moroccan or expat.
And that is something to be applauded.”