6th March 2007, 6 or 7 pm (not sure):
I found and error message when i tried to browse youtube.com . I tried to ping the site, the sites IP was resolved but it couldn’t ping. Then I tried the traceroute in command prompt ( tracert youtube.com). Again the IP was resolved but coudn’t trace a single node. I though it was a problem or a blockage at my ISP’s (xpressbd.net) side. I mailed them and in their reply they told me to check a few steps. I knew there wasn’t anything wrong at my side and mailed again. They again replied with the ping and traceroute result and concluding that it was a sort of blockage at BTCL end. However I called a few friends of mine some could access the site, and they were GP edge users. But others with different ISPs couldn’t.
There are more than 1 International Internet Gateway (IIG) in Bangladesh now a days (eg BTCL, Mango Telecom). I was unable to browse youtube.com from around 6/7 pm on 6th March. I asked a friend of mine who uses GP edge, and he said that He could browse youtube.com during 6/7 pm on 6th March. As far as I know GP uses bandwidth from both BTCL and Mango telecom and probably through V-SAT also. It could happen that the site was blocked/restricted from BTCL bandwidth first and then gradually Mango also followed. That’s because when I asked the same friend today (GP user) he said that he can’t browse today. It is possible to put restriction at every gateway. These are widely practised in China, Myanmar and many other countries where govt control the use of Internet. It is still possible someone can browse the site if they are using bandwidth directly from own V-SAT where it will take time for any authority to impose any kind of restriction.
Therefore I believe it can be some kind of restriction imposed on Bangladeshi Internet users, but I hope that it shouldn’t be a permanant one. It can be because of the current situation caused by the BDR mutiny incident. Youtube hosts numbers of videos/interviews of the BDR mutiny incident.
What is the point of blocking youtube in Bangladesh? was there any illegal videos? If there were, government could have remove those videos. But this is not fair at all to block youtube for all Bangladeshis.
Gulf News
http://www.gulfnews.com/world/Bangladesh/10293077.html
Bangladesh blocks YouTube for hosting army, Hasina video
Agencies
Published: March 09, 2009, 10:26
Dhaka: Bangladeshi authorities have blocked access to the video sharing Web site YouTube because it hosted a recording of a tense meeting between the prime minister and army officials recorded after a deadly border guard mutiny.
A senior official with the government’s Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, which oversees the Internet, said Monday that Youtube had been “temporarily blocked.”
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Nasrin Sultana, a manager at Access Telecom Bangladesh Limited, one of the country’s major Internet providers, said the site was blocked late Sunday because of an audio clip from the March 1 meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the army.
AFP
Bangladesh has blocked the video sharing website YouTube for hosting a recorded conversation between the newly elected prime minister and the country’s powerful army officers, officials said Sunday.
Internet users were unable to access the site after it hosted the audio tape, which appeared to show angry officers shouting at Sheikh Hasina over her handling of a bloody mutiny that has threatened Bangladesh’s recent return to democracy.
The violence in the capital Dhaka 10 days ago left at least 74 people dead including 56 army officers who were butchered and buried in shallow graves by mutinous border guards.
“Internet users have no access to YouTube. We understand that it has been blocked by the authorities,” said Sabbir Ahmed, a director of the country’s leading Internet service provider, BDCom.
A senior government official told AFP the site has been blocked after it hosted “contents subversive to the state.”
“The government can block any site that contains anti-state or subversive contents, which may cause unrest. We took the measure temporarily. It will be lifted soon,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The mutiny raised fears for Sheikh Hasina’s government, which won elections two months ago to replace an army-backed administration.
Police have issued arrest warrants for more than 1,000 Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) troops believed to have been involved in the bloodshed, and the alleged ring leader has been arrested.
Two US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials were to arrive in Bangladesh later Sunday in response to a call from Hasina for international help in catching the culprits.
International Herald Tribune:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/09/asia/AS-Bangladesh-Mutiny.php
Mutiny aftermath: Bangladesh blocks YouTube
Bangladesh blocked access to the video-sharing site YouTube after it hosted a recording of a tense meeting between the prime minister and army officials following a bloody mutiny by border guards, officials said Monday.
The insurrection last month claimed 70 lives, shook the two-month-old government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and raised tensions with the powerful military, which opposed her handling of the incident.
YouTube “has been temporarily blocked,” said a senior official with the government’s regulatory body that oversees the Internet, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
The official declined to provide further details and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Zia Ahmed, the telecommunications commission chairman, defended the decision, saying, “Nothing has been done that is beyond the jurisdiction of the government,” according to the online news service bdnews24.com.
“The government can take any decision to stop any activity that threatens national unity and integrity,” said Ahmed.
The audio clip recorded Hasina defending her decision to negotiate with the mutineers while army officials shouted and jeered, drowning her out and preventing her from speaking.
The clip was being posted on blogs and overseas Web sites that cater to Bangladeshis.
Nasrin Sultana, a manager at Access Telecom Bangladesh Limited, one of the country’s major Internet providers, said the site was blocked late Sunday because of an audio clip from the March 1 meeting. Officials at Google Inc., YouTube’s parent company, could not be immediately reached for comment.
Military officials and others with knowledge of the meeting said the gathering was tense.
The Feb. 26-27 revolt at the Dhaka headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles, a paramilitary border patrol force commanded by army officers, left senior army officials furious at Hasina for negotiating with the mutineers instead of ordering an army attack.
The mutiny ended through negotiations, with offers of amnesty and a show of military force. But when dozens of bodies — including those of 56 commanding officers — were discovered dumped into shallow graves or sewers on the sprawling compound, the government rescinded the amnesty for those behind the mutiny. Four other army officers are still reported missing, and presumed dead.
The government and the army have both launched investigations into attack, which apparently began over complaints over pay, perks and promotion prospects.
The government has sought technical and forensic assistance from the FBI as well as from Britain’s Scotland Yard. FBI agents arrived Sunday night and will join police investigators.
Police also said Sunday that they have so far arrested 36 suspects out of the more than 1,000 border guards charged in the mayhem.
Emirates Business 24/7:
http://www.business24-7.ae/articles/2009/3/pages/bangladeshblocksyoutube.aspx
Bangladesh blocks YouTube
Officials say Bangladeshi authorities have blocked access to the video sharing website YouTube because it hosted footage of a tense meeting between the prime minister and army officials after a deadly border guard mutiny.
Nasrin Sultana, a manager at Access Telecom Bangladesh Limited, one of the country’s major Internet providers, says the government blocked YouTube late Sunday night.
Government officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The insurrection left more than 70 people dead and has threatened the stability of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government, which came to power two months ago.
The video shows Hasina meeting with army officials in the wake of the mutiny, which left the powerful military furious with her administration.
The Times Of India:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Bangladesh-blocks-YouTube/articleshow/4242097.cms
Bangladesh blocks YouTube after Hasina-officers spat audio
Bangladesh on Sunday blocked video website YouTube after it hosted a audio tape, which appeared to depict army personnel ‘shouting’ and
‘showing anger’ at Premier Sheikh Hasina for alleged inept handling of the BDR mutiny that killed 73 military officers.
Internet users were unable to access the site after it hosted the audio tape, which appeared to show angry officers shouting and some of them questioning the government handling of the bloody mutiny.
“Internet users have no access to YouTube. We understand that it has been blocked by the authorities,” said Sabbir Ahmed, a director of the country’s leading Internet service provider, BDCom.
No statement was issued on the government decision but officials preferring anonymity said the site was temporarily blocked as it hosted “contents subversive to the state” and “may cause unrest”.
The February 25-26 mutiny of the Bangladesh border guards in the capital Dhaka left at least 77 people dead including 73 army officers who were butchered and buried in shallow graves by the rebels.
The mutiny raised fears for Sheikh Hasina’s government, which won elections two months ago to replace an army-backed administration.
Police have issued arrest warrants for more than 1,000 BDR troops believed to have been involved in the bloodshed.
BBC
Bangladesh imposes YouTube block
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7932659.stm
The video-sharing web site YouTube has been blocked by Bangladesh after a recording of a meeting between the PM and army officers was posted.
The meeting took place two days after a mutiny by border guards in Dhaka that left more than 70 people dead.
The recordings cover about 40 minutes of a three-hour meeting and reveal how angry many in the military were at the government’s handling of the crisis.
YouTube had been blocked in the “national interest”, officials said.
Hundreds of guardsmen have been arrested in connection with the mutiny but hundreds more are still being sought.
Jeered
The chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, Zia Ahmed, said the decision to block access to YouTube, and another website, esnips, was taken because the audio recordings they hosted threatened to worsen the current situation.
“The government can take any decision to stop any activity that threatens national unity and integrity,” he said.
Shekih Hasina
Sheikh Hasina has been both praised and criticised over the mutiny
The government has not said when the sites will be unblocked.
The meeting in question took place after the mutiny in the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters two weeks ago had collapsed. Some 54 army officers were among those killed.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina agreed to talk to officers to persuade them that her strategy to end the mutiny had worked and had in fact minimised casualties.
“We want answers,” some of the officers, who numbered more than 2,000, shouted at Sheikh Hasina.
Her attempts to speak are often jeered and drowned out.
The BBC’s Mark Dummett in Dhaka says there had been anger in the army over the government’s decision to negotiate with the mutineers, rather than immediately sending in troops to crush their revolt.
Many in the army believe the move gave the border guards more time to kill the officers and rape their wives.
One officer at the meeting tells the prime minister: “I do not understand who gave you that idea that it has to be solved politically… rebellion has to be crushed with force.
“But you have not done that… politics is not applicable everywhere… if one tank would have gone there or a commando platoon landed there, the [BDR] would have fled like ants… but none went… all my officers were killed helplessly… and you failed to do anything.”
Our correspondent says that outside the army, many in Bangladesh believe she handled the crisis well, though her government has undoubtedly been shaken and relations with the army remain low.