Iran launches own ‘Youtube’ video-sharing website called Mehr

Iran has launched its own video-sharing website as the country seeks to create a national intranet free of un-Islamic content.

The website is called “Mehr,” which means affection in Farsi, and is Iran’s answer to Google’s Youtube, the Agence France-Presse reported today.

The government-sanctioned website seeks to “promote Iranian and Islamic culture and artists,” the Associated Press reported, citing Iranian state television.

Youtube and other foreign social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, are blocked by Iranian officials who claim Western Internet users are seeking to undermine the Islamic regime.

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