JURIST - Paper Chase: Indonesia blocks websites over controversial Dutch anti-Islam film

[JURIST] Indonesian Internet providers blocked access Tuesday to file-sharing websites including YouTube, Google Video, and MySpace [corporate websites], one week after a government order sought to prevent the transmission of a controversial anti-Islamic film [JURIST report] created by far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders [personal website, in Dutch]. Indonesia's secular government issued an order [Reuters report] to block the websites last Wednesday, citing fears of unrest between the nation's different religions. Wilders' 15-minute film, released March 27 and entitled "Fitna," shows images of the Quran contrasted with images of violence and was described by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as "offensively anti-Islamic" [JURIST report] last month.

In February, Pakistan blocked access to YouTube's website because it had posted a movie trailer for Wilders' film; access was restored [JURIST reports] several days later. On Monday, a district court in the Netherlands rejected [JURIST report] a bid by the Dutch Islamic Federation to block Wilders' anti-Quran statements, saying that his comments are protected by the right of free expression and do not constitute speech that incites hate or violence. AP has more.

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