Telco blocks YouTube in Turkey.

In Turkey, a court order has forced local Internet service providers to block user-generated video site YouTube after prosecutors discovered clips that insulted former Turkish leader and founder of "modern" Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The controversy proves that the site's influence has extended beyond computer nerds and Internet surfers looking for distractions from their desk jobs.

According to the Turkish media, there had been a virtual war between Turkish and Greek users of the site, with both sides posting insulting videos. But the particular video in question dubbed Ataturk (who has amassed a cult following) and his followers as homosexuals. After first eliciting complaints, the clips were taken down from the site. Then, YouTube was filtered out completely by the country's largest Telco, Turk Telecom, which has a monopoly over Internet traffic in the country.

According to Article 301 of the Turkish Constitution, it is illegal to insult Turkish culture. The European Union, which Turkey hopes to soon join, has long called for easing this law, which has resulted in trials for somewhere around 50 writers.