PTA blocks Youtube in Pakistan -Governance Now

PTA blocks Youtube in Pakistan

After Facebook, Pak blocks YouTube for 'objectionable content'

PTI | May 20, 2010

Pakistani authorities today blocked video sharing website YouTube for hosting "objectionable content", a day after cutting off access to Facebook over a page featuring blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Mohammed.

In a statement, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said that YouTube had been blocked due to "objectionable content."

It did not give detail about the content.

The PTA directed Internet service providers to block YouTube. By late afternoon, most Internet users were unable to access the site.

The move follows the Lahore High Court's order to block Facebook till May 31 as it acted on a petition filed by the Islamic Lawyers Forum, which had sought a complete ban on the social networking website.

The court directed the Foreign Ministry to raise the issue of the blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Mohammed at international fora. It also asked the Foreign Secretary to register a protest with the concerned countries.

Acting on the court's order, the Information Technology Ministry directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to block Facebook and all "other Internet links displaying sacrilegious caricatures" of Prophet Mohammed.

The ministry also directed PTA to "remain alert and watchful and block all such links displaying the profane caricatures immediately", an official statement said yesterday.

The ministry asked people to inform it about "objectionable caricatures" at any website.

Comments

Other News

GI tags: Scaling traditional wealth into global brands

Geographical Indication (GI) tags have emerged as a powerful tool for protecting India`s cultural heritage, while creating economic opportunities for local communities. By linking products to their place of origin, GI tags preserve traditional knowledge, prevent misuse, and enhance consumer trust. They h

BMC: 207 officials in ACB net, 112 still on duty, 68 retire before justice catches up

There are significant delays in the handling of corruption cases involving officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a Right to Information (RTI) response obtained by rights activist Jeetendra Ghadge has revealed. As of 30 April 2026, 207 BMC officials face Anti-Corruption Bureau (A

The transformation trap: Why efficiency is not innovation

Every company is transforming, or so it claims. There was a time when the word ‘transformation’ carried weight. It signified bold strategic shifts, reinvention of business models, and breakthrough technologies that fundamentally changed how organizations created

The Sardar biography that throws light on our times

Patel: A Life By Rajmohan Gandhi Aleph Books, 568 pages, Rs 1,199 There are many biographi

Climate change, El Niño rewrite Indian monsoon

The month of July exceeded its rainfall target despite forecasts of a below-normal month under a strengthening El Niño. The reason could be that climate change is amplifying monsoon complexity: West Pacific warming, Western Disturbances and evolving ocean conditions increasingly interact with El Ni&

Mumbai has just 1.28 sq.m. of open space per person: Study

Mumbai`s public space crisis is as much about mismanagement as it is about scarcity, and offers a governance roadmap that can be implemented without new legislation, according to a new report by the Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI) and the NGO Alliance for Governance and Renewal (NAGAR).