Egyptian Judge Orders YouTube Blocked for a Month Over Anti-Islam Film That Spurred Riots

CAIRO (TheBlaze/AP) -- A Cairo court has ordered that the website YouTube be banned in Egypt for 30 days for carrying an anti-Islam film that caused riots across the world.

Judge Hassouna Tawfiq ordered the government Saturday to block YouTube because it carries the amateur film produced by an Egyptian in the United States. The film "The Innocence of Muslims" caused uproar in September 2012 in 20 countries for denigrating Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.

(Image: YouTube screenshot)

The controversial film was initially cited as the reasons sparking the riot against the U.S. embassy in Libya where four Americans were killed including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Soon after the attacks, the experts began saying the reasons for the riots were much more than just the anti-Islam film.

Lawyer Mohammed Hamid Salim, who filed the lawsuit last year, alleges the film constitutes a threat to Egypt's security.

The ruling can be appealed. Past verdicts ordering the blocking of websites deemed offensive in Egypt have not been applied.

At the time after the riots against the film, the Obama administration and other countries asked YouTube to review or remove the video from its website. YouTube complied with some requests.

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