YouTube an online stage for Iran protest videos

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-17 13:37

SAN FRANCISCO - YouTube has remained an online stage for videos of Iranian protests despite being blocked in that country in the wake of the disputed election in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed victory.

Jumpy video snippets evidently taken hurriedly by people on the move continued to be uploaded to YouTube through the day.

Some videos showed people being beaten by riot police, and other clips claimed to document the wreckage left behind after a military raid on a dorm at the University of Tehran.

There were several videos purportedly showing a protestor shot dead during massive street protests in Tehran on Monday.

YouTube an online stage for Iran protest videos

A supporter of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi stands in front of a burning bus during riots in Tehran. The main mobile telephone network in Iran was cut in the capital Tehran Saturday evening while popular Internet websites Facebook and YouTube also appeared to be blocked, correspondents said. [Agencies]

Clips of news coverage of Iranian protests were mixed with homemade commentaries and video of solidarity demonstrations in Paris and other cities around the world.

"Freedom to the people of Iran; don't give up hope," one YouTube viewer wrote in a forum beneath a video at the Google-owned website. "Fight to be free!"

The message was signed "From your friends in New York."

Videos titled "Riot in Tehran Streets After Election" and "Riot Police Caught by Crowd" had each logged nearly 300,000 views by late Tuesday.

"YouTube has been and remains a critical platform for citizens in Iran to convey their messages to the world, despite the apparent block of YouTube and the limitations placed on mainstream media reporting," YouTube spokesman Scott Rubin said in response to an AFP inquiry.

YouTube and popular online social-networking service Facebook both report being blocked in Iran after the websites became virtual rallying spots for people challenging the integrity of the election process.

YouTube said that while its policy is to remove videos showing graphic or gratuitous violence, it is endeavoring to leave up Iran protest videos because of their "documentary value."

"We are trying to leave up as much content as we can, because we feel that these videos are precisely what YouTube is about: a global forum for free expression," Rubin said.