YouTube services have been blocked in Pakistan, after the superior court and permiere office of the country ordered bans. Earlier today, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered a ban on YouTube, and asked PTA and PEMRA, two media regulation authorities, to make sure that the popular video sharing service is inaccessible in Pakistan. Later the Prime Minister also reiterated similar orders, and said that the ban will stay in place until YouTube decides to take down the objectionable content. The reason behind the descision to shutdown YouTube comes after the video sharing website posted content that was blasphemous to the religion of Islam. The video has incited worldwide protests that have been especially violent in the Middle East.
YouTube, an acquisition of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), was asked by White House to review the contents of the video. In a statement made by Tommy Vietor to Washington Post, the National Security Council spokesperson said, “we reached out to YouTube to call the video to their attention and ask them to review whether it violates their terms of use.” In reply, YouTube published a statement on Friday,
“We work hard to create a community everyone can enjoy, and which also enables people to express different opinions, This can be a challenge because what’s OK in one country can be offensive elsewhere. This video – which is widely available on the web – is clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube.” Charles Cooper at CNET thinks that YouTube would not be able to navigate easily through this new call for censorship.
YouTube has blocked the video from viewing in Libya, India, Indonesia, and Egypt. Afghanistan has itself blocked YouTube access in the country. Protests against the video have been more violent in Libya and Egypt. On Sep 11th, the US ambassador and three consulate officials were killed in Libya. The responsibility was claimed by Libyan extremist group with links to Al Qaeda.
