By: Farooq Baloch<\/p>\n
KARACHI: In all likelihood, YouTube will remain inaccessible in Pakistan for the foreseeable future. Islamabad\u2019s negotiations with Google \u2013 the internet giant that owns YouTube \u2013 may prove fruitless unless Pakistan ensures legal support to the regulation of digital content, The Express Tribune has learned.<\/p>\n
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 \u2018Innocence of Muslims\u2019 video from its popular video-sharing website.<\/p>\n
As per the company\u2019s policy, Google will not block the said video in Pakistan because it does not have a localised version of the website \u2013 the only factor that could have pushed Google to entertain the government\u2019s request.<\/p>\n
With the government unable to achieve a breakthrough, internet service providers (ISPs) \u2013 key stakeholders affected by the ban on YouTube \u2013 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.<\/p>\n
ISPs\u2019 representatives pushed this agenda in a recent meeting of stakeholders in the issue, which was also attended by Google\u2019s representative in Pakistan and government officials. However, such efforts may be in vain, as Google holds several reservations regarding the country\u2019s regulatory environment, sources said.<\/p>\n
In the absence of intermediary liability protection \u2013 a form of legal protection for platforms like YouTube from unlawful exploitation by third parties (such as users) \u2013 sources say that Google may not localise YouTube after all.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The website\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
A day after Malik\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt 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,\u201d an official privy to developments told The Express Tribune.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d the official said. \u201cAfter 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n