No end in sight for Bangladesh YouTube ban

DHAKA (AFP) — The Bangladesh government Tuesday refused to say when a ban on some websites -- including the video-sharing site YouTube -- would be lifted, three days after it barred access.

Authorities blocked the sites Sunday after audio purportedly from a leaked conversation between high-level army officers and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during a deadly border guard revolt was uploaded to the Internet.

The audio includes officers apparently yelling at the premier for her handling of the mutiny, in which at least 74 people -- 56 of whom were senior military men -- were killed.

"It depends on when the government gives instructions to me," Ziaul Islam, the head of the telecommunications regulatory commission, told AFP when asked if the ban would be lifted.

"The government has the authority to block certain sites that are subversive to the state or reflect badly on the government administration."

Several sites believed to be hosting the leaked material have been banned, including YouTube and esnips.com.

"We will try to get the situation back to normal as and when it is possible, but there has been no instruction," Islam said.

Telecommunications Minister Raziuddin Ahmed Raju refused to comment on the matter when approached by AFP.

Bloggers have criticised the government's actions, branding them "heavy handed."

Hasina's democratically-elected administration came to power in January after two years of rule by an army-backed emergency government.

Last month's mutiny has raised fears for the survival of the new government and exposed deep tensions between it and the military, both of which have launched their own inquiries into the revolt.

Manzoor Hasan, director of BRAC University's Institute of Governance Studies in Dhaka, said by banning the websites, the government had generated a huge amount of interest in the audio.

"It's self-defeating in a way because in today's world you can get information and news from any source. It's almost had the opposite effect, by generating more interest in the audio files.

"It's a dilemma for any government. On one hand, ideally, you want information to flow freely but it can compromise other things," Ataur Rahman, a professor of politics at Dhaka University, said.

"There should be the realisation of the government that it's not possible to control every piece of information," Rahman added.

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