The New IT minister of Pakistan Anusha Rahman has issued warnings against Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) that it will suffer the same fate like Youtube, and will be banned if it continues to publish offensive and distasteful contents from its site YouTube. YouTube is a video sharing site of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG).
The new IT and telecommunication minister joined the office and spoke about Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) on the same day. She talked about the measures, which they are taking to remove the nine month long ban on Youtube, for showing teasers and clips of the divisive film “Innocence of Muslims.”
As per Times of India the minister said that the decision will be taken after the course of the negotiation process is known. She said, “If they persist with their stance, we can block Google in Pakistan as a last resort as there are many alternative search engines available on the Web.”
Google Ban Denied By Pakistan’s IT Minister
However, Anusha Rahman clarified through Twitter that there is no such ban being imposed or considered on Google, and her words have been misreported. Her tweet read:
“Misreporting! We can all look forward to progress in coming days through affirmative actions… InshaAllah.”
Also, a tweet from Newsweek Pakistan confirms the tweet from the IT minister “no ban on Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) was or is under consideration.”
Earlier bans By Pakistan
Last year on September 17, a ban was put on the video sharing site of Google’s YouTube in Pakistan. The ban was the after effect of the protests, which was held by the Middle East against the “Innocence of Muslims”. The video showed that the prophet Muhammad was a clown.
Prior to this ban on YouTube, there have been incidents where the country has blocked the site. In 2008, YouTube was blocked in the country after a video was released where Islam was criticized.
There are many other Tech sites, which are shuttered in Pakistan. Twitter was blocked, in May 2012, by the government of Pakistan as there were some posts showing offensive pictures of Prophet Muhammad.
Before banning access to Twitter, Government of Pakistan put a ban on social networking site Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) after there was a page seen on Facebook calling for posting pictures of the Prophet Mohammed Day.
Google’s Filtered Version, May Be A Solution
Anusha Rahman said that the ban on YouTube could be lifted if the site incorporates filters in the service given in Pakistan.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) as of now does not provide any filtered version of its site YouTube for Pakistan. The service, however, is provided by the company in many other countries according to Pakistan newspaper Daily Times.
Zeffri Yusof, who is the head of Google Malaysia communications and public affairs, said that at present Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is offering the filtered version of YouTube in 49 countries globally. The company follows the rules and norms of that particular country while offering the YouTube services. He further said that on receiving the information that a video is illegal as per the norms of the country Google removes the video after reviewing it.
