News - Yemen: The Ministry of Information condemned YouTube's decision to close and delete the national Yemeni media channels.

In a statement, the ministry considered that YouTube’s blocking access to the national accounts is a deliberate attempt by the US-Saudi aggression to hide its crimes against the Yemeni People and its attempts to silence the voice of truth and justice.

It pointed out that the closure of dozens of Yemeni channels is an attack on the freedom of expression and publishing.

The Ministry of Information called on the concerned and related officials to take the necessary measures towards targeting the Yemeni media by YouTube.

YouTube, an American online video-sharing and social media platform, blocked access to Al-Furqan Network and the Fikra Foundation on Tuesday, days after closing 18 national media channels without any logical justification.

YouTube justified this arbitrary step by saying that it was due to its "private policies".

YouTube also closed the third channel of Al-Masirah office in Dhamar Governorate, hours after closing the channels of the Fikra Foundation and Al-Furqan Network.

This is not the first time that YouTube and other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have deleted Yemeni accounts or pages without any prior notice or justification.

In July 17, YouTube arbitrarily blocked access to more than a dozen Yemeni channels without giving any prior notice.

The attack targeted 18 channels of the media bureau of Yemen’s Operations Command Center as well as Ansarullah's art and documentary production unit.

The latest move constitutes a violation of freedom of speech and expression since many of the deleted channels actually used to post content related to arts and music, and had nothing to do with the promotion of hatred or incitement to violence.

In June 2021, the US Justice Department seized the website domain of the Yemeni Arabic-language al-Masirah television channel along with nearly three dozen other regional websites.

The move comes amid an 8-year Saudi-led war and economic blockade against Yemen, which has turned the country into what the UN calls the "worst humanitarian crisis" on earth.