Thailand's military-led government has banned YouTube for refusing to pull video insulting the monarchy. As YouTube becomes a global portal for video, it is drawing not only copyrighted material but political protest and the censorship attempts that come with it. Turkey blocked the portal last month for video insulting Ataturk. The Thais revere their national symbols as well, and insulting the monarchy is a serious offense there. The video mocking King Bhumibol Adulyadej isn't political satire or criticism, it seems more like a juvenile rebellion against stuffy law. We wonder how YouTube solved the standoff with Turkey. Perhaps they'll block the video to affected destination IPs.

Haha, the same story made it to Mashable, where Pete Cashmore and Marshall Kirkpatrick are having a philosphical debate over cultural relativism. I chime in and remind them that Western states have our own sensitivities and tensions:

Come on children, you think Western states are immune to these kind of cultural sensitivities? Remember that flag burning was ruled Constitutional by a slim 5-4 majority by SCOTUS. (Scalia casting the fifth vote!) And three Yalies just got arrested in New Haven for burning the flag. Some perspective, please!

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