Photo: Screengrab of CGTN

A documentary released by China's national broadcaster CGTN on the anti-terrorism work in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has been blocked by YouTube for "copyright" issues. Some netizens said that YouTube's move shows how hypocritical some Western media are. 

CGTN aired two documentaries on December 5 and 7 focused on anti-terrorism efforts in Xinjiang and terrorist organization the East Turkistan Islamic Movement's (ETIM) role in plotting terrorist attacks in China. 

The two documentaries included rare footages of terrorist attacks in China, including the Urumqi riots in 2009 - which led to 197 deaths and over 1,700 injuries - and the attack on the Kunming railway station on March 1, 2014, which left 31 dead and 141 wounded.

CGTN also uploaded these two documentaries to YouTube, and the first, Fighting Terrorism in Xinjiang, was watched hundreds of millions of times. 

However, it was taken down by YouTube "due to a copyright claim by Morgenland Festival Osnabruck."

Fighting Terrorism in Xinjiang was re-uploaded and can now be found on CGTN's YouTube account, but YouTube is asking users to register before watching the video as some of its content may not be "proper" for all users.

Youtube's actions have angered many users. Some netizens criticized YouTube's move as "shameful," and said it shows viewers how hypocritical Western media are. 

A netizen commented, "Make sure everyone knows YouTube censorship previously deleted this video in order to wipe its view count, likes and comments!"

"YouTube, what are you afraid about in this video? Is your censorship of the video in line with what you claim about freedom of speech?" a netizen named "David Watson" commented.