BYU Lifts YouTube Ban

YouTube is going to get a lot more Web traffic from Provo, Utah.

Citing the increasing amount of educational material on the immensely popular video-sharing website, Brigham Young University has lifted its three-year ban on the Google-owned site, the Associated Press reports.

The Mormon school's administrators had contended the site contained too much questionable content, but a recent push from some professors to allow access to the website in classrooms played a part in changing the school's policy, Provo's Daily Herald reports.

"The overwhelming factor was the educational information and materials that are increasingly becoming available," Carri Jenkins, a school spokeswoman, told the Daily Herald. "I think there's no other way but to provide all of it."

BYU's student newspaper, the Universe, reported that many students were happy to see the ban lifted.

"I use it to catch up on TV shows and things like that, but I also use it for news," said one student. "I've used it a couple times to watch church videos."

To make students and others fully aware of the "dangers and pitfalls" of the Internet, including sites like YouTube, BYU launched a new site—besafe.byu.edu. The site details ways to avoid spam, viruses, phishing scams, and malware and provides resources for students if they have questions about Internet use.