Al Jazeera officials said privately that in the run-up to the premiere of the new American channel, they had little choice but to acquiesce to cable and satellite providers, which generally discourage online competition of the kind that Al Jazeera English previously represented. In effect they have sacrificed Internet distribution for a shot at traditional distribution.

Al Jazeera’s decision made a certain amount of sense, considering that most Americans spend far more time with television than the Internet. Still, complaints about the blockade piled up on Al Jazeera America’s Facebook page. One of the most-liked comments criticized the broadcaster for “going backward” by prioritizing TV over the Internet.

The concerns were shared by some Al Jazeera staff members, especially those who have been at Al Jazeera English, or A.J.E. for short, for years. The live stream and the YouTube page were the main ways their work was seen in the United States until the restrictions were put in place this week. The staff’s complaints were channeled by Rob Reynolds, an A.J.E. correspondent based in Los Angeles, who wrote on Facebook on Monday that “the great blackout has begun.”

“Al Jazeera is now blocking all A.J.E. videos from the U.S.A.,” Mr. Reynolds wrote. “It’s a form of corporate censorship that would make the Chinese Politburo jealous. And an incredible show of disrespect to all the reporters operating in the U.S. who have helped build Al Jazeera’s brand name in this country.”

Mr. Reynolds deleted the Facebook post, but not before other Al Jazeera staff members saw it and shared it with each other approvingly. Reached on Tuesday, Mr. Reynolds said the post was intended for family and friends and was written out of frustration. He deleted it, he said, because he concluded that it was unfair to his colleagues. He said his reference to censorship was aimed at the cable and satellite providers, not his employer.

Mohamed Nanabhay, the former head of Al Jazeera English’s Web site, pointed out in an e-mail message that there were thousands of Al Jazeera videos “embedded on third-party sites across the Internet that have suddenly become unavailable to audiences” because of the blockade.

Mr. Nanabhay said Al Jazeera America could have gone in a different direction and tried to appeal to the growing number of Americans dissatisfied with cable, the so-called cord-cutters who access video online.