Meanwhile, as of 3:15 pm on Friday, YouTube is NOT banned in Turkey
To my astonishment, I seem to be able to access YouTube. I haven't been able to do this in Turkey for years. I can't find any reference to the ban having been lifted in the news, and for all I know it's a technical glitch, but let's be optimistic and celebrate it as a victory for freedom of expression. I'm celebrating it, anyway -- especially because I can now watch the video of Assistant Secretary of State Philip J. Crowley telling Pakistan that the United States supports the banning of YouTube. This will be rich.
I'm waiting for the State Department to applaud this development in Turkey, but obviously not holding my breath.
There was a protest here last night against the ban. It was sort of a combination party and protest, really; people here don't feel that comfortable with protests, but they love parties, so the idea of billing it as a party was quite shrewd. I doubt the protest resulted in the ban's being lifted, but I like to think the Turkish government finally decided, "We just can't keep this up, the world's laughing at us, and people here are getting really fed up."
I didn't make it to the party, although I wanted to. I was too busy dealing with a dead computer. But I know a lot of the people who were there, and I think I can guess what they'd say about the State Department's enthusiastic endorsement of censorship in the Islamic world.
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Re: Meanwhile, as of 3:15 pm on Friday, YouTube is NOT banned in Turkey
I'm still not seeing this in the news, and another friend says she can't access it. I wonder if the the guys who fixed my computer installed a DNS workaround? Did they throw that in as a bonus? Seems implausible, but who knows.
Re: Meanwhile, as of 3:15 pm on Friday, YouTube is NOT banned in Turkey
This is fascinating. I seem to be the only person in Turkey who can get YouTube without using a proxy server. My theory as of 3:49 pm is that the guys who fixed my computer yesterday changed the DNS settings. But why? I know we're not supposed to endorse conspiracy theories here on Ricochet, but I'm in Turkey, so I'm exempt from that rule. What otherwise rational person living in Turkey wouldn't ask herself, "What other secret capacities does my newly-repaired computer have?"
If it's some kind of spy device, they could have saved themselves the trouble. I spend half my life here trying to get people to listen to me, not prevent them from listening to me. Anyone wants to know what I think, all they need to do is ask.
Actually, they don't even need to ask.
May '10
Re: Meanwhile, as of 3:15 pm on Friday, YouTube is NOT banned in Turkey
The simplest explanation is probably that your repairmen were indeed spontaneously kind.
Or, depending on the state of Turkish politics (of which I'm completely ignorant), someone wants you arrested.
Here's hoping for the best!