Pakistan Blocks YouTube

Mike Halsey MVP
May 20, 2010
Updated • Aug 18, 2019
Music and Video, Youtube
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16

There have been an increasing number of internet censorship instances in the last couple of years including China blocking access to news sites during the Beijing Olympics to that terrible opponent of free-speech, Australia.  Now Pakistan is on the case, blocking YouTube for what it calls "growing sacrilegious content" the BBC has written.

This is not the first website to be blocked in Pakistan.  Facebook was previously blocked due to...

 "a row over a competition involving caricatures of Prophet Muhammad"

The Pakistani government has issued instructions to all the countries Internet service providers, instructing them to block access to the popular video website with immediate effect.

It is also being reported that some pages on Wikipedia are also being blocked.

Internet censorship, especially in democratic countries such as Australia and Pakistan will inevitably come under increasing scrutiny in the coming years after the United Nations' recent announcement that unrestricted Internet access should be considered a "basic human right".  The UN has yet to issue a statement, though we can assume that private discussions may well be taking place between Pakistani and UN officials in New York or Geneva.

So what does this mean for freedom on speech and freedom of expression?  I don't believe anybody should get too concerned about countries such as Australia and Pakistan censoring certain websites over religious or adult content sensibilities at the moment.  The Internet is such a vast, and completely free (some would even say anarchistic) wonderland, that all countries around the world, including the US and western Europe, are still trying to figure out how this all fits in with their own privacy, copyright and defamation laws.

The time is coming though for the United Nations to set out what is and is not acceptable on the Internet.  This will give countries guidelines for blocking content that other people will consider perfectly acceptable.

Tip: check out Wikipedia's timeline of events here. According to the BBC, Pakistan unblocked YouTube in 2016.

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Pakistan Blocks YouTube
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The Pakistani government has issued instructions to all the countries Internet service providers, instructing them to block access to YouTube with immediate effect.
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Comments

  1. Aisha said on April 21, 2011 at 12:54 pm
    Reply

    Muslims, get over it! Your archaic and barbaric religion has no place for the future and advancement of mankind. The Jews, as small in numbers as they are, have far surpassed you in science, medicine, technology, etc. Muslims worldwide can’t even come close to their achievements – even all of Islamic historical achievements (not much to speak of) pales in comparison to what the Jews have contributed to mankind.

  2. aki said on May 25, 2010 at 9:15 am
    Reply

    well the step is quite sharp and it should be taken against evil acts…we have to represent Islam with its real image

  3. Sanix said on May 22, 2010 at 11:52 pm
    Reply

    Respect is what is needed if anyone wants to have freedom of speech. Every country, every nation have their Holy beliefs. Freedom of speech doesn’t mean hurting other nations. I mean if the whole nation is hurt by one act, it must be stopped.

    Don’t hate humans, hate their bad acts.

  4. Jawwad said on May 21, 2010 at 2:16 pm
    Reply

    Every person, nation, Religion has it’s securities. They have right to defend it.
    If u say that they should block internet as there are many antiislamic websites then take this case in this way …

    if u are walking on a road, if a person want’s to hit you or abuse you or your parents ….. what would u call his action ? A freedom ? never! u will immediately take action through court etc.. or u will defend your securities by your self.

    so , we as a Muslim will work against every threat which will be again Islam, Our Nation and Ourselves.

    1. nicbot said on May 21, 2010 at 7:08 pm
      Reply

      I think something was lost in translation there…

      But to comment on your first statement;
      “Every person, nation, Religion has it’s securities. They have right to defend it.”

      Sure, but every person on this planet also should have their right to information about all religions and world point of views as well as have the ability to defend that right. Nations or religions infringing upon that are in violation of a basic human right.

  5. Hassan Ali said on May 21, 2010 at 2:05 pm
    Reply

    In my opinion freedom of speech should not be enjoyed by insulting someone’s belief or sacred personality.

    1. nicbot said on May 21, 2010 at 6:23 pm
      Reply

      That’s not freedom at all. That’s just being nice. It’s dangerous and irresponsible to confuse the two.

      1. jared said on May 24, 2010 at 11:17 am
        Reply

        Nono, they don’t bomb because of what other people’s say about their religion…please do some investigation or research before you believe what medias like newspapers and televisions told you…

      2. Nono said on May 23, 2010 at 9:38 am
        Reply

        But other’s usually do not bomb people if they say something against their religion. Look at all the fun in TV that is made about Jesus or other religious figures for instance, sure there are people who criticize that but that’s it.

      3. jared said on May 23, 2010 at 3:49 am
        Reply

        What’s the point of a freedom of speech if your words hurt other people’s feeling?

        There is no total freedom. Our freedom is limited by other people’s rights.

        If I say something nasty about someone’s mother, will it be called a freedom? If I say something very bad about your father, you will normally be angry.

        No one likes to be insulted, so before you say something think about other people’s feeling first.

        If many people can’t resist of saying nasty things, we will see wars everywhere we live.

        Moslems will get angry when other people insult their prophet, Christiants will get angry when other people insult their prophet…where will this end?…another war…? Oh please…what kind of freedom if it causes hates and wars…?

  6. Ahmad Saleem said on May 20, 2010 at 10:24 pm
    Reply

    I like Pakistani Government in this act, go ahead ban permanent Facebook and youtube.

  7. Nosh said on May 20, 2010 at 9:30 pm
    Reply

    Why don’t they just ban the Internet? There’s a lot of anti-Islamic material on it.

    1. Awais Rana said on May 22, 2010 at 11:59 am
      Reply

      Objections are welcomed in every religion not the caricatures.

      What if ; a secular offer you to draw the caricature of any PROPHET.

  8. nicbot said on May 20, 2010 at 7:25 pm
    Reply

    “The time is coming though for the United Nations to set out what is and is not acceptable on the Internet. This will give countries guidelines for blocking content that other people will consider perfectly acceptable.”

    Not sure I agree with this. I am not saying I think child pornography and such should ever be ok, but if you start drawing lines where do they stop? This is a complicated topic which opinions will very greatly depending on an individuals religious, social and political predisposition.

    Information is power. Limiting and controlling access to information (even the gross and horrible kind) should be considered a violation of the basic human right to seek knowledge and make up ones own mind.

    Just my .02

  9. paulus said on May 20, 2010 at 6:14 pm
    Reply

    Country’s like the Netherlands do the same with sites like piratebay next mounth.So there is everywhere censorship in one sort of the other.

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