We have now completed a full year with the YouTube ban in place, forcing some to do without one of the most popular internet sites in the world, many others to resort to proxies of various kinds, putting up with the nuisances these ‘by-pass’ mechanisms cause. So, what has the ban, slapped on after an offensive film was loaded on
ISLAMABAD: The ministry of information technology was upbeat about lifting the ban on video sharing website YouTube after having finally acquired the ‘missing’ filters to block blasphemous content within days but it seems that the matter will consume more time. On August 22, State Minister for Information Technology Anusha Rehman revealed during a briefing that Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL)
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has so far blocked over 21,000 websites containing blasphemous material and while the process is still continuing a report will be sent to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Monday to decide if the YouTube should be reopened. After verifying the strength of the response mechanism placed by the PTA to handle blasphemous material on the
The writer is one of the directors at Bolo Bhi and has previously worked at Newsline It is not about YouTube, just like it was never about Facebook in 2010. The issue was never limited to the reopening of particular platforms which were accessed through the use of proxies by Pakistanis despite the bans in place. The issue has always
By: Zulqernain Tahir LAHORE: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf said on Tuesday the government would reopen YouTube after completion of work on a filtration mechanism. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority directed internet service providers and mobile phone firms to unblock YouTube on Dec 29 but within an hour the prime minister re-imposed the ban because the anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims”
By: Farooq Baloch KARACHI: In all likelihood, YouTube will remain inaccessible in Pakistan for the foreseeable future. Islamabad’s negotiations with Google – the internet giant that owns YouTube – may prove fruitless unless Pakistan ensures legal support to the regulation of digital content, The Express Tribune has learned. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has been in talks with Google for
By: ANWAR KHAN A number of freely available proxy websites and software applications on internet have largely made the government’s ban on YouTube ineffective. Whether the government lifts the restriction or continues it further, the users will however feel no difference because of the available unblocking methods, telecom professionals said. The globally popular video sharing website is being conveniently visited
The saga of YouTube outage in Pakistan is a classic case of starting over without a closure. Hence, the YouTube opening last Friday brought only ephemeral joys to those eagerly waiting after the Prime Minster himself reportedly annulled the move. Since Google didn’t oblige to PTA’s request to block the contents of the sacrilegious anti-Islam film on YouTube, the matter
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