Chechen leader wants to unblock YouTube

Grozny, May 14 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has said the time was ripe to restore access to YouTube, which was blocked in the mainly Islamic region last year for hosting a controversial film on Islam.

A Moscow court had declared the film "Innocence of Muslims" extremist in October and imposed an official countrywide ban on it.

Prior to that, a court in Chechnya's capital Grozny also ruled against the film's distribution, prompting content providers to limit access to YouTube in the republic.

Access to YouTube is not restricted in most other parts of Russia, as the site blocked access to the film after it received a formal court order to do so.

"I think it will be right for a court to decide to unblock access to the video sharing site, because the task has already been fulfilled and limiting free access for the republic's residents now makes no sense," Kadyrov said.

The privately produced movie "Innocence of Muslims" triggered widespread protests in the Muslim world. In Libya, the film was linked to an attack on the US consulate that left Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other American officials dead.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

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