Technology had, of course, made these tasks simpler. Through its action to block it, the government has denied its people of all this. We can only wonder what logic guides them in continuing with the ban. The matter has been taken before the court but progress in restoring the site remains painfully slow. Even now there is no indication the familiar message from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority telling us the site is not available will be vanishing any time soon. Tens of thousands of irritated internet users have lashed out against the government each time that message flashes up on screens.

A year after YouTube vanished, there is still no indication of when it may make a comeback. There is no concrete news on this, a ludicrous ban enters its second year and it seems our leaders are bent on driving the country further into darkness by snatching away tools that can help progress and expand knowledge. Surely someone, somewhere in authority, must realise how foolish this is and how much harm it is inflicting on people everywhere for no sensible reason at all.

Express Tribune

On August 22, State Minister for Information Technology Anusha Rehman revealed during a briefing that Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) had helped to provide filters through which over 4,000 URLs containing blasphemous content were blocked.

The test run of filters did yield results and the ministry was hopeful to convene the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) meeting within a week so that the matter regarding opening of YouTube be taken up for an approval. However, the test run is still in process and the IMC has not been convened.

“The IMC meeting has not been convened yet,” said the ministry spokesperson Kamran Ali Khan while talking to The Express Tribune. Responding to a question, he said “the test run [of the filters] is going on and the IMC meeting would be convened once there are desirable results.”

Claining that the meeting would take place in the near future, spokesperson did not give any dates.

The former information technology secretary was transferred and Akhlaq Ahmed Tarar was given this position last week. So Since it is the IT secretary who chairs the IMC meeting, it will take some time for the new secretary to get acquainted with the issue. This can further postpone the meeting.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had earlier estimated that it would cost $10 million to place filters to block blasphemous content on the internet. It was claimed that there were eight million URLs that contained the blasphemous material.

After having found the mechanism [filters], the PTA was supposed to put it in place and establish a call centre with toll free numbers and email address so that people could report if blasphemous content was uploaded to any URL. The PTCL had provided the filters needed to block the sacrilegious material free of cost.

YouTube was blocked on September 2012, by the IT ministry on the direction of IMC following release of a blasphemous movie that reputed violent protests across the country.

The IMC, constituted by the prime minister in 2006, has the mandate to evaluate and restrict offensive online content in Pakistan. The committee is headed by the IT secretary and has representation from different ministries, including religious affairs and interior, including other agencies.

The IMC had made the decision last September after evaluating the circumstances, and concluded that PTA should block YouTube till further orders. Subsequently, the IT ministry ordered PTA to block the websites. A policy directive was also issued by the ministry in May 2012 to PTA to deploy a state of art solution to block blasphemous and pornographic websites.

State Minister Anusha Rehman had said in a briefing that PTA had failed to implement the ministry’s directive. The reason she gave was that the PTA fell under the Cabinet Division and not the administrative control of the IT ministry.

Express Tribune

After verifying the strength of the response mechanism placed by the PTA to handle blasphemous material on the Internet next week, the government will forward the issue of re-opening of YouTube to the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC), it is learnt.

“We are actively pursuing this sensitive issue to ensure the blockage of viewership of blasphemous film “Innocence of Muslim” in Pakistan, but we want to ensure placing of an effective system under the PTA to handle complaints of its re-loading on the YouTube,” Minister of State for Information Technology, Anusha Rehman, said when The News sought her comments on Friday.

To another query about grey trafficking monitoring system, the minister said after the ICH policy, the LDI operators in 2012 contributed Rs270 million towards the monitoring of grey trafficking which will have interface to PTA and this system would be in place by September 15.

However, the sources said the PTA authorities would brief the minister of state on the strength of their complaint handling mechanism on coming Monday.

The PTA, the sources said, replied back to an official communication sent out by the Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT) about response mechanism on complaints in case of reloading of blasphemous film or pornography, stating that the PTA had set up a toll-free number and complaint email (complaint@pta.gov.pk) processed by the Services Division of PTA where blasphemous URLs can be sent.

The MoIT had given a three-day deadline to the PTA to apprise them about complaint handling mechanism after which this issue will be forwarded to the IMC for decision.

Keeping in view the sensitivity of the issue, the letter states that a comprehensive mechanism was already in place whereby upon receipt of complaints all obnoxious content relating to blasphemous or pornographic is blocked.

Sources in the PTA said that this complaint cell was established in 2006 and in 2009 Complaint Management System was put in place which was also shared with cellular companies at that time.

Taking decisions on blocking of content does not fall under the jurisdiction of PTA, as it is the domain of IMC (Inter-Ministerial Committee) which comprises different stakeholders including the intelligence agencies under the chairmanship of Federal Secretary MoIT.

However, the sources in MoIT say an effective enforcement on the directives of PTA was a problematic area and they cited different examples such as the regulator remained unable to enforce its directive on spam filters.

They said the PTA also remained unable to install filters in accordance with the policy directive of MoIT. “There is need to understand the difference between the mandate of the ministry and regulator, as the PTA is not under the direct control of MoIT,” said the official sources.

The sources also pointed out that there were some top guns who in official briefing claimed that there were eight million URLs having blasphemous film and it was not possible for them to clean such a massive URLs. They had argued that only 0.5 million URLs could be blocked in Pakistan.But after the PML-N took the reins of power, the minister of state for IT formed a 14-member committee which identified only 4,000 URLs.

The News

The process for blocking — on paper at least — is as follows. The Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Evaluation of Websites (IMCEW) convenes to reach a decision. This decision is communicated as a directive by the Ministry of Information, Technology and Telecom (MoITT) to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). The PTA issues orders to internet service providers (ISPs) and it is at the ISP level that the blocking takes place. The IMCEW and the MoITT are responsible for policymaking, the PTA for enforcement. The ISPs simply comply.

Decisions are reached and imposed. Who is on the IMC — other than the various ministries and agencies — and what its decision-making process entails remains unknown. There is no public disclosure or documentation of the decisions, neither is public input taken into account. The only input, it seems, that is taken into account is that of violent mobs and law-breakers. And there is no way of challenging the decision other than going the court route.

Also, this process has been known to be hijacked by vested interests who, by sheer clout, are able to override it and ensure their own decisions are implemented — at whichever level.

Time and again, Pakistan’s internet users have been subjected to bans and blockades. Always, these decisions have been arbitrary as has been the manner of implementation. In the past, ISPs have acted as whistle-blowers for outing political censorship. And this, in fact, has been the only disclosure regarding decisions made behind closed doors.

But what happens if state-level filters are installed? Since the first day in office, Minister of State Anusha Rahman has maintained that as soon as filters are in place, YouTube will be reopened. According to the minister, filters will do the needful — block the video but provide access to the platform. Repeatedly, the ministry and others in government have been apprised of the dangers of filtering. But what’s really surprising is how the ministry seems to have found a solution in a few weeks time, just as the next court hearing is upon them.

It is pertinent to mention that twice the minister and the secretary IT were told to appear in court but excused themselves. The objective was for the political leadership to get involved, hear what everyone had to say and then take steps to resolve the issue. But the pursuit of filters displays a disregard for any input other than their own. While the court has not reached a conclusion on the YouTube case yet, it has raised the question as to why attempts to block should be made, when they can’t guarantee 100 per cent results; should there not be another solution? This was arrived at after hearing state and non-state actors extensively on the policy and technology aspects of the issue.

A solution to address the YouTube ban and similar issues has been pending for months, years, in fact, as the same challenge presented itself when Facebook was banned in 2010. According to the PTA’s submission to court, no system exists in Pakistan that can block HTTPS URLs, which is why particular links to the video could not be blocked, but the whole domain had to be. How has this system suddenly been unearthed by the ministry? And why, against the cautioning of civil society and experts, who have consistently maintained it will cause a huge breach of privacy and compromise online safety and security, is it being pursued? Accepting filters to reopen YouTube will be an extremely damaging compromise if it is made, much worse than the blocking of one platform.

To date, manual methods have been employed to achieve blocking. What happens when ISPs are also taken out of the picture? If filters are installed, would they be at the gateway level? According to statements issued by the ministry, PTCL is providing it with the technology for free, for a period of one year. Where does it intend to install this system? At the gateway level or at landing stations where internet traffic enters the country? If government-owned landing stations are given the sole right to operate the mechanism, who is to check what more than ‘objectionable’ — and whose criteria of objectionable — is taken down? And what of compromised communication security? Who becomes privy to everything one says or does on the internet?

What China with innumerable resources and finances has not been able to achieve, Pakistan thinks it can. As rapidly as blocking technology evolves, so do circumvention tools. Access through proxies has proved this much. Is it justified then to spend millions on technology that is easy to sidestep in the first place? Also important to remember is that China, Iran and Saudi Arabia are not models to emulate, not if Pakistan is a democratic country and the present government intends for it to remain so. What China, Iran and Saudi Arabia do is in the capacity of a non-democratic set-up. Democracies don’t allow for authoritarian mindsets that decide and impose decisions even if they override citizens’ rights. So, either Pakistan is a democracy, or it is not. And if it is, then democratic processes must be followed and rights must be protected.

The Express Tribune

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” had not been removed.

“We believe in access to free information. The only reason not to unblock YouTube is the presence of blasphemous material on it. We will open it as soon as we have a filtration mechanism,” the prime minister said while addressing Safma delegates at the Governor’s House on Tuesday.

He said there should be no visa restriction for media people because they bring the people closer and know how to connect people. He said Pakistan attached importance to Saarc and was committed to its principles and objectives.

Pakistan, he said, supported liberalisation of Saarc trade within the region and looked forward to increasing bilateral and multilateral trade with member countries.

“We have peculiar challenges which can be tackled effectively by developing home-grown solutions. It is in this context that diversity among the member countries needed to be employed to accelerate the process of development through greater connectivity. South Asia can do well to learn from the best global practices and apply them to the regional context.”

He said that conflict over disputes must give way to reconciliation, connectivity, openness and regional cooperation.

“The collective wellbeing of people of South Asia cannot be left at the mercy of any one country. We need to resolve all political and economic issues with an open mind and sincerity of purpose.”

Pakistan Press Foundation

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 more than three months now, but has so far failed to convince the internet titan to remove the offensive ‘Innocence of Muslims’ video from its popular video-sharing website.

As per the company’s policy, Google will not block the said video in Pakistan because it does not have a localised version of the website – the only factor that could have pushed Google to entertain the government’s request.

With the government unable to achieve a breakthrough, internet service providers (ISPs) – key stakeholders affected by the ban on YouTube – have started lobbying to push Google to register the website in Pakistan so that they can autonomously block all links reported as offensive to Pakistani sentimentalities, say industry sources.

ISPs’ representatives pushed this agenda in a recent meeting of stakeholders in the issue, which was also attended by Google’s representative in Pakistan and government officials. However, such efforts may be in vain, as Google holds several reservations regarding the country’s regulatory environment, sources said.

In the absence of intermediary liability protection – a form of legal protection for platforms like YouTube from unlawful exploitation by third parties (such as users) – sources say that Google may not localise YouTube after all.

Similar laws exist in India and even Bangladesh, sources point out. However, the regulatory environment in Pakistan is uncertain. The government has not been able to table the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill; the national IT policy has expired; and the government is also considering a controversial automated filtering system that can serve as a blanket ban on the internet. These reasons are enough for Google to excuse itself from localising YouTube, to the disadvantage of local users.

The website’s popularity can be judged from the fact that YouTube made headlines in local news last week, after Interior Minister Rehman Malik tweeted that the website would be unblocked in 24 hours. Malik’s tweet indicated that the government was acquiring some kind of firewall or filtering system that would restrict the offensive video without blocking the entire website.

A day after Malik’s tweet, the PTA directed ISPs to unblock the website. However, it abruptly reversed its directives within the next couple of hours; purportedly because the video was still available and could be accessed on the website.

“It was an ill-thought-out policy directive from the IT ministry, which was enforced by the PTA without a proper look into the technicalities of the matter,” an official privy to developments told The Express Tribune.

“The links can be blocked one by one. PTA had [initially] blocked more than 750 links leading to the said video: but that required an extensive effort stretching over 48 hours,” the official said. “After three months, the number of links to the same video has reached closed to a million. This will require a greater effort. This cannot be done overnight.”

The other possibility is that the governments use an automated filtration system to block out censored content. The IT ministry has directed the PTA to implement a high-tech system to filter blasphemous content without blocking entire websites. However, this requires a huge investment, and the directive fails to mention who will fund the project, the official said.

Pakistan Press Foundation

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 for movies, songs, cartoon films, sports matches, education learning and for other materials despite the government’s ban. “There are a number of ways to unblock any restricted site on internet with the help of a variety of websites and applications which are easily available for users,” telecom sources said on Tuesday.

Pakistan banned access to YouTube in mid-September last year as the top video site had posted an anti-Islam movie which triggered mass demonstration and violent protests in Muslim world. The ban on YouTube since then continues though a brief resumption late December in 2012 was witnessed. “The government may reopen the site for local users anytime but its ban however is largely diluted by the proxy servers,” the telecom professionals said.

Whether it is learning of English language, solving mathematics questions and physics numerical, photography, poems for children, computer education or any other academic and professional knowledge, YouTube is believed the world’s best site, they said. The tube also provides access through free account to every user to upload personal footages, pictures and videos on the site, which can be seen across the world. “It is also a best and most effective site for children education,” they said.

However, video site has emerged a source of disrepute to religions, social and culture norms and propaganda tool across the world, they said. “The site has its paradoxical status, you may like and at the same hate it for the stuff posted on it,” they pointed out.

The official stance on banning YouTube is still vague, as Pakistan Telecommunication Authority can block the unwanted material and make the site accessible for all internet users, they suggested. “The use of free proxies widely enables the users to click on YouTube without any problems or inconvenience,” they said, adding that “the government just needs to weed out the unwanted material, instead of unblocking the site,” they opined. They said the growing computer literacy rate in Pakistan shows that such restriction will make no impact on internet users. “Every user is equipped with ample knowledge of computer and its internet applications,” they added.

Pakistan Press Foundation

Reportedly, a national URL filtering system is going to be deployed in Pakistan whose objective will be to block blasphemous and pornographic web contents at the basic, URL level. After this deployment, PTA and the ISPs will be able to block the URLs linked to that video, paving the way for YouTube to be opened in Pakistan. It is not known as to how much time that will take.

That process must be expedited because the large video sharing platform of YouTube has its benefits for the people. Junaid Khan, the left-arm medium-fast bowler who wowed everyone with his swing bowling against the Indian top order last Sunday, is said to have learnt these swing bowling skills watching YouTube videos of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younus. The 23-year-old Khan hails from Matra, Swabi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

Until few months ago, before the YouTube ban went into effect, kids training in cricket academies would tell similar stories. Teenagers on the tennis courts could be seen talking about how they learnt a particular forehand or backhand shot in a YouTube video that they wanted to practice with their coach. Musician friends could be overheard discussing new chords and notes they improvised watching YouTube videos.

The point is that YouTube had gradually become a medium in Pakistan through which passion and talent started developing into skills. There must be several more examples like Khan’s, in various fields. It almost goes unnoticed, but YouTube has a complementary effect on education at various levels.

YouTube is an immense learning resource for students and teachers as well as parents and coaches, who all can benefit from lectures and talks by eminent scholars, professors and practitioners. Video libraries of online self-learning sites like the ‘Khan Academy’ and ‘Coursera’ are readily available on YouTube, helping those looking to learn or master concepts and skills.

Learning work skills is another area. The first CEO of Pakistan’s Universal Service Fund (USF) highlighted USF’s experience in this regard while speaking to BR Research over a year ago. He referred to the pilot for the USF’s ‘Universal Telecenters’ project in rural areas which showed that females enrolled in these Telecenters, for computer literacy, demonstrated great interest in learning new stitching designs and sewing techniques from YouTube videos.

Similarly, YouTube’s platform has been found to immensely benefit computer programmers, software engineers, researchers, and those engaged in other kinds of knowledge work. For all these positive reasons, and many more which could not be narrated here, the ban on YouTube should be lifted in Pakistan, after addressing the underlying issue, at the earliest.

Pakistan Press Foundation