# YouTube

YouTube, LLC|  |
| Screenshot of YouTube's homepage |
| Type | Subsidiary |
| Foundation date | February 14, 2005 (2005-02-14) |
| Headquarters | 901 Cherry Avenue, San Bruno, California, United States |
| Area served | Worldwide (except blocked countries) |
| Founder(s) | * Steve Chen
* Chad Hurley
* Jawed Karim
 |
| Key people | Neal Mohan (CEO) Chad Hurley (Adviser) |
| Industry | Internet Video hosting service |
| Parent | Independent (2005–2006) Google (2006–present) |
| Slogan(s) | Broadcast Yourself (2005–2012) |
| Website | YouTube.com (see list of localized domain names) |
| Written in | Java, Python and proprietary JavaScript |
| Alexa rank |  2 (July 2017) |
| Advertising | Google AdSense |
| Registration | Optional (not required to watch most videos; required for certain tasks such as uploading videos, viewing flagged (18+) videos, creating playlists and posting comments) |
| Launched | April 22, 2005 (2005-04-22) |
| Current status | Active |

**YouTube** is a free video sharing website that lets people upload, view, and share contents. Contents can be rated with a like or dislike, most contents can be commented on if logged in to an account, and the number of times a video has been watched (known as "views") is put on the site. Users who have accounts can also subscribe to channels. At the moment, Google (a search engine company) owns and operates YouTube. Many different types of videos can be put onto the website, such as educational content, animations, and funny stuff. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005 by six or seven former workers of PayPal.

## Features

### Videos

YouTube needed the Adobe Flash Player plug-in to play videos in the past. However, in January 2010, YouTube tried using the built-in features of web browsers so people would not need to use Adobe Flash player to watch videos.

All YouTube users can upload 15-minute long videos. Users who have used the site for enough time and follow the rules can upload videos that are 12 hours long. A user needs to verify the account to do this, however. Everyone could upload long videos when YouTube started, but in March 2006 a ten-minute video limit was put in. The limit was changed to 15 minutes in July 2010. Most video formats can be uploaded to YouTube, and videos can also be uploaded from mobile phones.

## Banning

YouTube is blocked in many schools because it allows children to search for videos online that would otherwise distract them from their lessons, much like how other social networking sites and game sites are blocked for the same purpose. But at a higher level than schools (and in workplaces), even some governments have blocked YouTube access to their country's public, but their reasons can vary.

### Iran

On December 3, 2006, the government of Iran blocked YouTube and several other sites in an attempt to stop films and music from other countries from being seen.

### Turkey

Turkey blocked YouTube on March 6 2007 for letting videos that were insulting or discriminating to Turks and Atatürk, who is the founder of modern Turkey, to be shown, because of a "virtual war" between Greeks, Armenians, Kurds and Turks on YouTube, with people from each side posting videos to hurt the other. The video that caused banning alleged Turks and Atatürk to be 'gay'. The video was first mentioned on Turkish CNN and the Istanbul public prosecutor sued YouTube for being mean to Turkishness. The court suspended access to YouTube while waiting for the removal of the video. The ban was strongly criticized. YouTube lawyers sent documentary of removal to court and users could access the website again on March 9 2007.

### Thailand

During the week of March 8, YouTube was blocked in Thailand. Many bloggers (people who have a "diary" online) believed the reason YouTube was blocked was because of a video of the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's speech on CNN. However, the government did not confirm or give reasons for the ban. YouTube was accessible from March 10.

On the night of April 3, YouTube was again blocked in Thailand. The government said it was because of a video on the site that it said was "insulting" to King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology claimed that it would unblock YouTube in a few days, after websites containing references to this video are blocked instead of the entire website. Communications Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom said, "When they decide to withdraw the clip, we will withdraw the ban." Soon after this incident the internet technology blog Mashable was banned from Thailand over the reporting of the YouTube clips in question.

### Brazilian model lawsuit and banning that came after

YouTube is being sued by Brazilian model and MTV VJ Daniela Cicarelli (better known as Ronaldo's ex-fiancée) on the grounds that the site is making available a video footage made by a paparazzi, in which she and her boyfriend are having sex on a Spanish beach. The lawsuit says that YouTube has to be blocked in Brazil until all copies of the video are removed. On Saturday, January 6, 2007, a legal injunction ordered that filters be put in place to prevent users in Brazil from going to the website.

The effectiveness of the measure has been questioned, since the video is not available only on YouTube, but rather has become an Internet phenomenon. On Tuesday, January 9, 2007, the same court overturned their earlier decision, ordering the filters to be taken down, even though the footage was still forbidden, but without technical support for its blockage.

### Morocco

On May 25, 2007 the state-owned company Maroc Telecom blocked all access to YouTube. There were no reasons given why YouTube was blocked. But the guesses are that it might have something to do with some pro-separatist group Polisario clips (Polisario is the Western Sahara independence movement) or because of some videos that criticized King Mohammed VI. This block did not concern the other two private internet-providers, Wana and Meditel. YouTube became accessible again on May 30th, 2007 after *Maroc Telecom* unofficially announced that the denied access to the website was only a "technical glitch".

### Australia

In Australia, some schools, including all secondary schools in Victoria, have YouTube blocked from student access, after fights have been posted on YouTube.

### China

Currently in China the government has blocked YouTube. For several years it has been unblocked but since the past five years it has been blocked.

## Terms of service

According the site's terms of service, users may upload videos only if they have the permission of the copyright holder and of the people in the video. Pornography, defamation, harassment, commercials and videos that encourage criminal conduct may not be uploaded. The uploader gives YouTube permission to give out and change the uploaded video for any purpose, and they do not have permission anymore when the uploader deletes the video from the site. Users may view videos on the site but are not allowed to save them on their computers.

### Localization

On June 19, 2007, Google CEO Eric Schmidt was in Paris to launch the new localization system. The interface of the website is available with localized versions in 90 countries, and a worldwide version.

| Country | Language | Headquarters | Launch date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  United States (worldwide launch and first global location) | English | San Bruno | February 15, 2005 | First location and worldwide launch |
|  Brazil | Portuguese | São Paulo | June 19, 2007 |
|  France | French, and Basque | Paris | June 19, 2007 |
|  Ireland | English | Dublin | June 19, 2007 |
|  Italy | Italian | Rome | June 19, 2007 |
|  Japan | Japanese | Tokyo | June 19, 2007 |
|  Netherlands | Dutch | Amsterdam | June 19, 2007 |
|  Poland | Polish | Warsaw | June 19, 2007 |
|  Spain | Spanish, Galician, Catalan, and Basque | Madrid | June 19, 2007 |
|  United Kingdom | English | London | June 19, 2007 |
|  Mexico | Spanish | Mexico City | October 11, 2007 |
|  Hong Kong | Chinese, and English | Hong Kong | October 17, 2007 |
|  Taiwan | Chinese | Taipei | October 18, 2007 |
|  Australia | English | Sydney | October 22, 2007 |
|  New Zealand | English | Auckland | October 22, 2007 |
|  Canada | English, and French | Toronto | November 6, 2007 |
|  Germany | German | Berlin | November 8, 2007 |
|  Russia | Russian | Moscow | November 13, 2007 |
|  South Korea | Korean | Seoul | January 23, 2008 |
|  India | Hindi, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu | Mumbai | May 7, 2008 |
|  Israel | Hebrew, Arabic, and English | Tel Aviv | September 16, 2008 |
|  Czech Republic | Czech | Prague | October 9, 2008 |
|  Sweden | Swedish | Stockholm | October 22, 2008 |
|  South Africa | Afrikaans, Zulu, and English | Johannesburg | May 17, 2010 |
|  Argentina | Spanish | Buenos Aires | September 8, 2010 |
|  Algeria | Arabic, and French | Algiers | March 9, 2011 |
|  Egypt | Arabic | Cairo | March 9, 2011 |
|  Jordan | Arabic | Amman | March 9, 2011 |
|  Morocco | Arabic, and French | Rabat | March 9, 2011 |
|  Saudi Arabia | Arabic, and English | Riyadh | March 9, 2011 |
|  Tunisia | Arabic, and French | Tunis | March 9, 2011 |
|  Yemen | Arabic | Sana‘a | March 9, 2011 |
|  Kenya | Swahili, and English | Nairobi | September 1, 2011 |
|  Philippines | Filipino, and English | Quezon City | October 13, 2011 |
|  Singapore | Chinese, English, Malay, and Tamil | Singapore City | October 20, 2011 |
|  Belgium | French, Dutch, and German | Antwerp | November 11, 2011 |
|  Colombia | Spanish | Bogota | November 30, 2011 |
|  Uganda | English, and Swahili | Kampala | December 2, 2011 |
|  Nigeria | English | Lagos | December 7, 2011 |
|  Chile | Spanish | Santiago | January 10, 2012 |
|  Hungary | Hungarian | Budapest | February 29, 2012 |
|  Malaysia | Malay, and English | Kuala Lumpur | March 22, 2012 |
|  Peru | Spanish | Lima | March 25, 2012 |
|  United Arab Emirates | Arabic, and English | Dubai | March 29, 2012 |
|  Greece | Greek | Athens | May 1, 2012 |
|  Indonesia | Indonesian, and English | Jakarta | May 17, 2012 |
|  Ghana | English | Accra | June 5, 2012 |
|  Senegal | French, and English | Dakar | July 4, 2012 |
|  Turkey | Turkish | Istanbul | October 1, 2012 |
|  Ukraine | Ukrainian, and Russian | Kiev | December 1, 2012 |
|  Denmark | Danish | Copenhagen | February 1, 2013 |
|  Finland | Finnish | Helsinki | February 1, 2013 |
|  Norway | Norwegian | Oslo | February 1, 2013 |
|   Switzerland | German, French, and Italian | Zurich | March 29, 2013 |
|  Austria | German | Vienna | March 29, 2013 |
|  Romania | Romanian | Bucharest | April 18, 2013 |
|  Slovakia | Slovak | Bratislava | April 25, 2013 |
|  Portugal | Portuguese | Lisbon | April 25, 2013 |
|  Bahrain | Arabic | Manama | August 16, 2013 |
|  Kuwait | Arabic | Kuwait City | August 16, 2013 |
|  Oman | Arabic | Muscat | August 16, 2013 |
|  Qatar | Arabic | Doha | August 16, 2013 |
|  Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian | Sarajevo | March 17, 2014 |
|  Bulgaria | Bulgarian | Sofia | March 17, 2014 |
|  Croatia | Croatian | Zagreb | March 17, 2014 |
|  Estonia | Estonian | Tallinn | March 17, 2014 |
|  Latvia | Latvian | Riga | March 17, 2014 |
|  Lithuania | Lithuanian | Vilnius | March 17, 2014 |
|  Macedonia | Macedonian, Albanian, Serbian, and Turkish | Skopje | March 17, 2014 |
|  Montenegro | Serbian, and Croatian | Podgorica | March 17, 2014 |
|  Serbia | Serbian | Belgrade | March 17, 2014 |
|  Slovenia | Slovenian | Ljubljana | March 17, 2014 |
|  Thailand | Thai | Bangkok | April 1, 2014 |
|  Lebanon | Arabic, and French | Beirut | May 1, 2014 |
|  Puerto Rico | Spanish, and English | San Juan | August 23, 2014 |
|  Vietnam | Vietnamese | Hanoi | October 1, 2014 |
|  Libya | Arabic | Tripoli | February 1, 2015 |
|  Iceland | Icelandic | Reykjavik | June 2, 2015 |
|  Luxembourg | French, and German | Luxembourg | June 2, 2015 |
|  Tanzania | Swahili, and English | Dodoma | June 2, 2015 |
|  Zimbabwe | English | Harare | June 2, 2015 |
|  Azerbaijan | Azerbaijani | Baku | October 12, 2015 |
|  Belarus | Russian | Minsk | October 12, 2015 |
|  Georgia | Georgian | Tbilisi | October 12, 2015 |
|  Kazakhstan | Kazakh | Astana | October 12, 2015 |
|  Iraq | Arabic | Baghdad | November 9, 2015 |
|    Nepal | Nepali | Kathmandu | January 12, 2016 |
|  Pakistan | Urdu, and English | Karachi | January 12, 2016 |
|  Sri Lanka | Sinhala, and Tamil | Colombo | January 12, 2016 |
|  Jamaica | English | Kingston | August 4, 2016 |
|  Malta | Maltese, and English | Valletta | June 24, 2018 |
|  Bolivia | Spanish | La Paz | January 30, 2019 |
|  Costa Rica | Spanish | San José | January 30, 2019 |
|  Ecuador | Spanish | Quito | January 30, 2019 |
|  El Salvador | Spanish | San Salvador | January 30, 2019 |
|  Guatemala | Spanish | Guatemala City | January 30, 2019 |
|  Honduras | Spanish | Tegucigalpa | January 30, 2019 |
|  Nicaragua | Spanish | Managua | January 30, 2019 |
|  Panama | Spanish | Panama City | January 30, 2019 |
|  Uruguay | Spanish | Montevideo | January 30, 2019 |
|  Paraguay | Spanish | Asunción | February 21, 2019 |
|  Dominican Republic | Spanish | Santo Domingo | February 21, 2019 |
|  Cyprus | Greek, and Turkish | Nicosia | March 13, 2019 |
|  Liechtenstein | German | Vaduz | March 13, 2019 |
|  Venezuela | Spanish | Caracas | March 10, 2020 |
|  Papua New Guinea | English | Port Moresby | June 10, 2020 |
|  Bangladesh | Bengali | Dhaka | September 2, 2020 |
|  Cambodia | Khmer | Phnom Penh | August 25, 2022 |
|  Laos | Lao | Vientiane | August 25, 2022 |
|  Moldova | Romanian, and Russian | Chişinău | March 26, 2024 |
|  Armenia (last global location) | Armenian, and Russian | Yerevan | May 7, 2026 |

### Testing language

The interface of the YouTube website is available in 76 language versions including, Albanian, Amharic, Armenian, Bengali, Burmese, Khmer, Kyrgyz, Laotian, Mongolian, Persian and Uzbek, which do have local channel versions.

## Other websites

* YouTube.com
* YouTube mobile site
* YouTube Blog
* YouTube founders comment on the Google.com acquisition of YouTube