About half a dozen social media sites for videos and audios, news and file-sharing sites could not be accessed on Sunday. The sites include http://www.youtube.com, http://www.esnips.com, http://www.mediafire.com, http://www.upload-mp3.com, and http://www.filefreak.com . According to a posting on a blog (http : //fresnel-lens.blogspot.com) which quoted Traceroute statistics, any request for access to the YouTube and eSnips sites cannot get past GW-TELNET.BTTB.GOV.BD, which is at the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited. Some surfers think the sites may have been blocked by the authorities as videos and audios related to the February 25–26 BDR rebellion are posted on the sites. SM Khabiruzzaman, who was recently appointed managing director of the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited, on Sunday told New Age the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission had asked them to block the YouTube site. He, however, said they did not know why the commission had asked them to block the site. Sources in the commission said other Internet service providers which use VSATs, had also been asked to block a number of sites. The commission’s media consultant Abbas Faruk said the commission could block any web sites on ‘the grounds of national security.’ He said apart from YouTube, a number of other web sites were also blocked.