KARACHI: Over 1,000 pornographic websites are in the process of being blocked by internet service providers (ISP), following directives issued by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
While by no means a blanket ban given the vast amount of sites containing explicit content online, an official in a local ISP has confirmed that the PTA has provided a list of 1,000 most frequented porn sites in Pakistan that are to be blocked.
"They are adding to the list on a daily basis" confirmed the source.
The Express Tribune has received a list of over 170,000 websites the PTA purportedly may ban in Pakistan, however, an official from a local ISP provider states that such a blanket ban is unlikely.
"Blocking 170,000 sites is not feasible for any operator. The screening time on a per request basis will essentially slow the internet down to make it unusable."
Websites currently blocked by ISPs redirect users to a page with a message that reads: "This page is blocked due to restrictions enforced by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA)."
Earlier this year, a hacker had managed to bypass security on the Supreme Court's website, posting a message that called on the PTA to ban pornographic websites or face further online attacks. A similar attack was carried out on the PTA's own website.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2011.
COMMENTS (171)
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unemployed people who provide internet cable in there muhalla's to earn few thousands per month to feed there poor families are recieving messages from there customers tht thy will stop paying them if there are no porn sites on there cable ??
i think its a bad decision it will raise sexual crimes..
Wellcome PTA Jo bhi site band kare gi main use open ker k dikhaonga Prove....
thanx PTA for this act. ther r many porn websites in internet,so i hope that PTA would must be block all in future.......
That only makes people more eager to watch porn...yeh PTA step is positive now people will start learn how to access these website, or Bypass these restrictions. If they are that much interested to block something, block Google, MSN, Yahoo etc(Search engines)...but they can't, so the attempt was good from PTA but NOT FOOL PROOF!!!
proxy removers can do any thng and proxies can be removed so easily :P
Well i think this is really a bad decision, this will increase the frustration and thus rape, crimes and many other.
No Electricity No Gas No Water People Dying of Hunger Almost every Paki is a Crook –Sorry, but before cursing me just think how many you know who are truly honest? Money Devaluing every second No Jobs for the Youth –Just great Jazz, Ufone, Telenor, Warid Packages to Talk all Night No Sports No True Islamic Centers for the young ones to learn how beautiful our Religion is Dirty Politics
17.6% of the total population has access to Internet and we say bravo to blocking sites! Well if everyone is happy than I am happy! But we need to look at the bigger picture!
Who has the right to tell me what to do and what not to do? How does the PTA know that I share its view of what is right for me?
If people were given a choice to choose their countries upon turning eighteen, I am sure the population of Pakistan would at least be one-fourth of what it is now. Societies in which individuals cannot come to terms with their own bodies tend to turn into a chaotic mess.
what about proxies???????????????
i am requestin from pta that they should open porn sides it is just time passing we are not doing practically if u are closing the sides what about the cds can u clear it no then u have to open that sites again
so basically pta got scared and did it.. instead of fighting cyber crime. great. promote cyber terrorism
good work in pakistan in first time
well you know even if they appoint a so called qualified staff on that they cannot blocked sites. bcoz anonymous proxies just rocks.. not even the USA national broadcasting sites like hulu and netflix can detect my location and easily let me enter ... then what is this PTA.. guys get real no site can be blocked .. atleast not by PTA itself if you know what i mean.
thnx to PTA
i like it and appreciate the PTA attention cos it was ruining our new generation.
i m happy now
well is that a joke , ?? i can CHALLENGE that these sites are still accessible, & very easily , PTA should appoint a really qualified staff on that, IF THeY REALLY WANT TO DO IT.
Really a stupid and naive approach. Porn is not harmful and it is impossible to try to block all the million sites that are out there. If PTA is allowed to block sites how can you be sure that they are not blocking other sites like discussion forums for human rights and other sites that may have different opinions than the government.
excellent step
*A.o.A & HI To All Friends, I have heard AND EXPERIENCED the sites that are blocked legally by the PTA. IN MY OPINION, this wont ever stop the 'Porn Addicts' from watching porn but would encourage them to perform illegally and they might would not know about the Safety Precautions to take and this may lead to Population Explosion, Early Marriages or Infected Pakistan (STD's). I did not understand that why did they put all the pressure blocking porn all over the Country while they have many other issues to deal with. I am not saying that i am in the favor of porn, but seriously think about the question that raised in everyone's mind, 'WHY PORN'... I agree, for some people this comment would be lengthy but seriously you should read and think about it... Thanx for giving your time to read!!! <3 ya all Salam! *
please block this web site http://gonzoxxxmovies.com/
A big amount of porn is available on TORRENT,something should be done against it,otherwise people will download porn from torrent n reproduce it on cd or dvd
vary good job
Bad move by the authorities. I think so it should be unblocked because mature and sensible people visite such sites. Authorities please do not be like TALIBAANS. Let the nation live by their own ways. And please take the restrictions back. Porn sites were the only source for us to get refreshed because you already know that in our country there are no other sources of such type of refreshment. It will not work And frustration among the youth will increase.
Thanks very much
Ok so you all are encouraging a hacker ?? someone who broke the law and you are supporting him. this is nonsense , let the people do what they want. Its my right to do whatever i want, although i do not indulge in such things. think seriosly you are taking rights away from people who are doing something harmless for no reason. Pathetic
please this site block imediatly
well i tried to explain may be someone will understand..
@Loneliberal PK: It's no use, these people will never understand.
why they block last.fm its not a porn site
This, indeed, is a good decision. PTA should also ban those websites that post adult stories.
salute to the man who did it i mean to that hacker who asked to supreme court and PTA to block porn sites coz of porn sites our energy and time was wasted. I thinkif they provide any link to us on which we should tell them about those porn sites which r not blocked if we knw to completely wash out porn sites from Pakistan
Defiantly a Good step Take by PTA but it Require more Work to blocked foreign porn sites
Its good to ban porn cites but there may b a negative effect that people(having no control on them) might start to do real sex......which is worse!
@Rashid: no i think u r wrong. If someone does not watch or see anything so then the one cannot do that thing. Similarly if no one watches porn then no will do any sexual crime.
its not a great deal to overcome such restrictions.....................
Very Good Decision By PTA...
v keep on blaming govt. institutes for their ills n when they taking sm good step it must be acknowledged, so this is good step even if ppl may either bypass or find other sites, just lik v see crimes in most advanced countries like usa, uk and canada...
Now I know why I was...diverted to youtube..lol..
porn is just now blocked in pakistan which good step from ppp govt.
Who says its not feasible to ban, if they want to do they can, if not they can't.
yah thats great step by PTA but 1000 are close and 10000 other sites can watch
over all its great
Something which should have been initiated before several years and today our society would have been prevented at most from this "Dajaali fitna". Anyhow its still not too late for such a movement which will prevent the society from further dwelling into this fitna. After such a long hearing a good news about the society prosperity.
all such sites should be banned....well done.
A good step taken so late but still a great work.I think PTA has done a great work. In our religon and culture these things cant be tolerated. by this i think we have saved the respect of our culture religon and some respectful families because This is ISLAMIC REPUBLIC PAKISTAN. These things were destroying and was making frusration in our present and future YOUTH of PAKISTAN and made them think like the western side
A msg from a true faithfull honest PAKISTANI teen ager
thts doesnt work,there are alot of torrents through people can download the stuff,they have to block this musssst
Very good decision.
MQM supports it.
Proud to be a pakistani..
very good step
Once again a very very stupid thing to do by our stupid government. You can never stop this thing with these kind of idiotic steps. We are very suppressed and ignorant society.
Believe me this thing will fire back on your faces..
Remember the Era of Gen. Ziaul Haq. In 11 years he used every means to enforce fake Islamisation. YOU CAN NEVER CONTROL THE SWAMI OF INTERNET AND SATELLITE TV.
“Blocking 170,000 sites is not feasible for any operator. The screening time on a per request basis will essentially slow the internet down to make it unusable.”
what? my Norton DNS (which is a free service) can block almost all porn/scam/malware sites and you can't even filter the naughty sites. Plus, this is not a huge list for computer to filter through.
I wish the country having the least access to any bad material. The easy access to anything makes you addicted...
great step but no use a simple up and down of ips with get it to work,pta hire me and i will promise no will be able to open pron sites again,age 17, occupation part time hacker
Idiots mostly people have XXX Cd's huge collection!!! u can never stop that!!
Beauty.... excellent Job..
This is not effective for all operators. e,g, http://www.exbii.com/ is banned on wateen but not on PTCL DSL.
It is a great Act by PTA. PTA Zindabad.
Not a very good decision. You can never force anyone for anything. We live in an Islamic community, but that doesn't mean there are no non muslims here. And even those who are Muslims these days don't look like real Muslims. So I dont think banning these sites will have much of an impact on our society. In fact it might backfire, as people would now try other desperate needs to satisfy their needs. Poor decision
so super decision, slaute you PTA and Pakistan
Why users watch porn? Because they choose to do so? So there should be no ban on Porn!
noooo i am dooomed! without porn :(
good
i like this decision . n agree to it 100%
In the Name of Allah the Most Beneficient the Most Merciful. A superb step indeed by PTA............Any positive step taken always merits appreciation and is highly commendable in my opinion. Change always begins from the first step. It reveals there still exists thinking minds and energetic souls, focussed to keep the youth of this great country Pakistan on the right track. It can be this step, marking the milestone from which can emanate a tremendous amount of positivity towards the entire society, thereby bringing a massive cultural transformation. Hoping and praying for its success and implemetation and acceptance at all levels in true ltr and spirit. May Allah Almighty guide us all to the right path. Ameen!!
I have few questions why only sites with free porn are blocked? why didn't they blocked sites on which you have to pay for porn? Is it some kind of support for the benefit of such sites?
It is the right decision taken by PTA.
I am glad that the children and adults won’t be able to have access to these websites any more.
does the PTA even know what "porn" sites there might be.??? if they use this to block informatives sites, then we've just gone back to Zia-era days of utter ignorent bliss :(
ok who will stop the porn download from torrent sites.. this is pathetic.. and who will stop the distribution via cds and other media...
Awesome Awesome Awesome
very good decision........
Hi, I want to Block porn Sites Plz help me.
very good decision, is implemented in my islamic countries, even if its not 100% but, i shouldn't be easy accessed.
Its really good and great step. It should be taken earlier. As our country is Islamic and PTA is fully responsible for that. Well-done.
I still get porn from the world most popular porn site on ptcl
@Ali: You are so right!
@haha: youre just too funny. just dont spill any beans
next up for most fav sites....proxy sites....at least people will have to use some brain cells for porn
From what I hear you cant block sites without causing more damage to internet traffic. Is this what is behind the really awful internet access for the past week or so. It has cost our company several thousand rupees already. Should we sue PTA or the LHC judge to recover our hard earned money
This is a very bad thing done by PTA blocking porno websites. Because pakistan is already a sexually frustrated society and this frustration is getting more higher every day. If people will not get porn to satisfy themselves they will either start raping girls which is already happening or the ones who are married will start making more babies resulting in an absolute devastation of the society. The porn was only harmless means of releaving this sexual frustration. But PTA has doomed the society and if they think that they can stop internet porn they are very delusional because it is impossible.
It is possible as neighbor countries are already banned more then 90% porn and dirty sites.
Depended on government wills, hope nearby PTA block PORN in Pakistan
country is becoming a jail day by day...
Sooooo sad news porn loving people in Pakistan. Thank god I'm in India.. :-)
and the people who are referring to pedophiles and rapists...this is an ILLNESS...which is in mind...not because of the sites. If porn was a source of this...than there are countries which don't even have internet...and porn....STILL PEDO's AND RAPISTS EXIST over there...
porn has not did any damage ever...so blocking it basically is nothing...I enjoy it and am not addicted to it honestly...and is a way to relieve frustration...simple
Blocking these sites WILL DO NO good....i'll take on a debate IF IT DOES!!!
@HB:
Last time I checked the right to watch porn wasnt a fundamental human right. :D
Good step by PTA. This will help the youngsters turn to piety and religion instead of getting lost in lust and depravity like the West. It will make Pakistan more Islamic and pure.
best censorship is nimaz and better upbringing by parent…I am a parent of two and I know what when and why my children are watching on net…and they too donot feel like a prisoner…we discuss everything which other and we have set limits ….result…they offer prayers regularly , they abhor bad sites or time wasting and are still studying in most modern colleges and acting normally….. so even if internet is banned…one thing that is most importnat is the role of parents…..otherwise ban porn on net and sale of porn dvd will increase…crackdown on dvds then some other way will come….bad habbits can only be effectively stopped by not letting them start in early years of youth,,…once they get into it….they will find ways….
Great step by PTA. We all must realise what our religion has condemned is supposed to be harmful for us, and it surely is. We need to control our animalistic urges and direct our energy to something positive. May Allah show us all the right path.
they can take some help fm etisalat. dubai telephone co. it is almost imposible to open such sites in dxb. etisalat is also share holder in ptcl and they will be happy to help. 1000 is very less numbrr...it need continus jihad.....
and people think we dont have pishing websites! grow up PTA! its no use now!
@Loneliberal PK: Looks like your not happy lad. What?? isn't this good??
And now the states also judges for us what to see and what no to see! The state decides for us our morality! Sounds of theocracy??
eSnips is among the list of sites blocked by PTA. This site is by no mean a p0rn site, it's just a file sharing server.
Hope someone at PTA notices it.
hmm... what about torrents and stuff??
pretty useless move..IMO!
I appreciate this work but don`t know that this ban is for how much time because the bad things that are ban rightly is open again in few days so u should block all these sites permanently so no one can acces them and u should also block YAHOO IMAGES because it also contain porn images . thanks
@Sher: lets dig those old hard drives back :P
@Despo: When there is a will ! theres a way !! mines working perfectly fine too :P
@abc: the only person here i agree with !!! Blocking porn sites !!! Seriously ? thats what the Supreme Court and PTA is all about now ? rnt there bigger issues in this country !!! It was an outlet for the ones who really needed it !! as for us .. we will come up with another 1000 or may be back to our fav sites .. Lets not forget !! PTA did ban Facebook too !! and we were all using it even then :)
I did not know anything about PTA until last night. You know what i mean :)
I am expecting this case to be similar with the case of banned words for sms use. Insanity has no limits especially in our country and that too on official level..
wow. what will teanagers do now?
As people have no control or responsibility of their actions, it is always the attitude that govt should do it. God has created good and bad so that healthy adults can make their own mind. Otherwise God would not have created what is so-called bad. A more perverse example of this attitude is to keep all women in Burqa and hidden inside, because men are not supposed to control themselves. Leave it to us, we would find bad in everything good and new.
Pick up the rapists and pedophiles from the society, and survey them for watching porn. I am sure, you will end up with 100% of them saying yes. And many will agree that watching porn played part in making them to do these heinous acts. The sexual frustration develops, and you let it out by watching porn? Think it the other way; investigate why does the sexual frustration arise at the first place? This would provide a more effective approach for stopping crimes.
If he wasn't at sea, Osama would be turning in his grave.
however i do believe that this step is just like putting a bandage on the underlying root causes. when education system fails and the time of our youth is not put into right activities then then the youth will indeed get involved in activities like watching porn. what needs to be done is that our youth should be given a direction or else youths which are an asset will turn into a liability@abc:
those who say that porn is a way to vent do not understand the effects of pornography. Pornography is an addiction. by the way this is what many WESTERN reaserchers say. I wrote western in caps because if this was the opinion of some muslim researcher then his resear would have been labelled as fundamentalist. acoirding to western research pedophiles arent pedophiles from the start, they usually start with casual porn which in some cases develops into pedo habits. @abc:
The PTA is basically obeying the orders of the hackers who sabotaged their website. This is absolutely insane. Every day I lose respect for a new government organization in Pakistan.
Someone should bring a case for violation of human rights, freedom of information and freedom of expression. PTA shouldn't be allowed to control internet content - PERIOD! We are already a country teetering on the brink of absolute destruction. The last thing we need is to be monitored on the internet by an irresponsible organization such as the PTA and develop a myopic vision limited to our country and religion.
how are we supposed to let off steam? this will increase the birth rate drastically and also rapes of men and women. the govt shud overturn this immediately
@Mj......PTA has all the power to decide what rules and regulation they want to implement within their authoritative fields as they see fit for betterment of society.this authority is given to them by the govt of Pakistan, whose constitution we all follow. your freedom of expression, civil or human rights are at stake here. while the Govt is not responsible to take care of spoiled urges.
some ppl here saying blocking porn will do further harm to our morality. i think that's rubbish... porn actually is the cancer to our collective morality. compare to now, there was not enough porn before. the internet, CDs and MMS have become easy to access, that was not the case before. the trending MMS clips which go viral on internet within days, has destroyed so many lives(imagine one of ur family member in that place). our culture cant absorb such privacy breaches. you cant forcefully put morality into ones mind but least u can do is to set means which can discourage it or keep immoral activities in the closet so it cant prompt others. wen internet started booming i was in college and believe me at that time i didn't have wild imagination what today's 6th grader have. immorality is going down the drain. the young girls are getting spoiled as well, who are already vulnerable in this environment.
Aaj raat jitna dekhna hai dekho lo, bad scene ho gya yeh tou.
Wait, wait, wait... Watching porn is an outlet for letting your frustrations out?! Banning porn will result in an increase in other sexual crimes?! Believe me, this is a completely mistaken view. Rather, the converse is true.
and getting rid of frustration means less REAL sex....whats the harm in that ?!? less sexual crimes....geez we wouldn't want that would we?!?!?!?!
porn can be good as well....everything in EXCESS is bad...even good deeds because you might be doing hell lot of them but they might be a burden on some1....
everything is good in limits....and porn IS a source of SEX EDUCATION for the ones who want to keep the spark alive in there MARRIAGE as well....
it is just NOT to relieve frustration....everything has two sides to be viewed on...
talk to me when banning these sites will reduce aids and other sex related activites in pakistan or india or whatsoever....FRUSTRATION IS IN THE MIND....NOT ON THE PORN SITES!!!
those stupids who think its a wrong move, or porn is a safe way out for frustations, come on guys be wise and mature. What about those times when there was no print or electronic media back in 1700-1800's? People of those times were also humans having frustations and emotions like us. And those were the times when Muslims were morally and ethically superior and stronger than any other nation. Not like us, socially emotionally morally dead people. If u r frustated than consume ur energies in some positive things instead of useless porn.
Did anybody else observe the internet speed slowed down lately?
Oh, some of the liberal dudes out there used to say why is there aint any ban in porn sites in the "Land of Pure"! Now when the ban has been imposed, why so much fuss?
ha ha ha... how many would they block. there are trillions of em. P.S. some of my bookmarks are workin just fine! :P
well...google called pakistan as PORNistan,so how will the people relieve their frustrations now? We can expect an increase in violence against women now, i suppose.
Porn is a positive resource that relieves frustrations in a safe manner, and is useful to the extent it educates people about improving their sex life, which is very important to achieve a happy and fulfilled life.
All these suicide bombers need is porn,to reduce their frustration which makes them commit suicide.
Good Job Hacker Alright. Hats off!
Back to the scratchy CDs :P
and what about the companies here which host these sites ??????
On on hand I think the ban is a good step,... but on the other hand I request some prudent and effective banning techniques are required...otherwise many sites containing medical data will also be banned. moroever quite a few sites are legitimate but their names might sound offensive...example being LUND University...It might get banned although it is a premier university....many other examples are there.... lastly censorship comes at a price....if it is stopped at 1000 sites then speed will be lessened only a little bit but if 100000 sites are banned then we will see the dial up ages once again.... lastly best censorship is nimaz and better upbringing by parent...I am a parent of two and I know what when and why my children are watching on net...and they too donot feel like a prisoner...we discuss everything which other and we have set limits ....result...they offer prayers regularly , they abhor bad sites or time wasting and are still studying in most modern colleges and acting normally..... so even if internet is banned...one thing that is most importnat is the role of parents.....otherwise ban porn on net and sale of porn dvd will increase...crackdown on dvds then some other way will come....bad habbits can be effectively stopped by not letting them start in early years of youth,,...once they get into it....they will find ways....
Expect rape to become more frequent. Contrary to what some dorky feminists argue, the amount of porn men watch is inversely proportional to the incidence of rape. Furthermore, if you don't like porn, don't watch it. Let those who enjoy porn watch it in peace.
When did I give PTA the authority to decide for me what I can and can't view on the internet? A very bad precedent has been set and the next target will be the suppression of political dissent. That is the only purpose such filtration systems serve in the Middle East under the guise of moral policing.
MIGHT ASWELL ..download all ...while i can :p
why is it such a big deal if porn is available? it just gives an outlet for everyone to relieve their frustrations...
;)
1,000 down, 1 trillion to go.
As a girl I am completely against this decision. No. I don't watch porn. But our society is extremely frustrated and porn is an outlet for them. Otherwise, I think sexual harassment and crimes will rise manyfold. Repressing a society that is already frustrated. Bad move.
Our priorities are so completely topsy-turvy that it's disturbing. As if there isn't already enough sexual frustration in our society. I think that - at least for young bachelors - porn provided a relatively safe outlet.
Lets get down to the basics people. what else will our supressed community do? Watching something at home privately without disturbing others is ok. you want our youngsters not to watch porn and not get them married until 30 or later so that they go out n indulge in othrr stuff. rite. what a bunch of nuts! This is normal. watching porn is normal. No abnormalities about it.
Long live the Hacker!!!
This is an effective decision from PTA, I hope people who are interested in the pornographic website.
Keep it up and continue to blocked time to time.
Censorship .. started from banning rolling stone ..
proxy zindabad!!!
Great step by hackers..
i like express tribune bkoz they provide us true news
good decision. Finally something relevant from "Islamic Republic"!
Its ok, lets not panic. If i start today maybe i'll be able to watch all the porn on the internet before its blocked by next month.
switches to private browsing
Reading the comments here makes one wonder that if people were so fed up of the porn sites, what made Mr. Google and its statistics to believe that Pakistan is the top most country to visit pornographic stuff ? :p Come on guys, this is sheer hypocrisy. Visiting pornographic stuff to the extent that it had to be banned and now getting joyous all of a sudden? This should never have reached to this point in the first place.
I can easily access the sites if have software that would let me access all the blocked sites because I used to use it in dubai to use orkut if i could use orkut than i guess people can bypass these restrictions and sites which help to open blocked sites!!
For sure it cannot be stopped 100%, however, better than open access.
The act is merely symbolic with very little practical use. It's truly amazing the things that we prioritize in this country.
well something to cheer for......
... and what will this exactly achieve? apart from directing our majority of internet traffic to other 193,432,938,093 adult websites that haven't been blocked yet?
Half-witted, half-baked measures to control half-as-important issue.
Though this is not gonna affect the snakes out there as they will find new ways to bypass but it is definitely a good step to stop the novice users not to encounter adult content while surfing the internet. Great Step by PTA
at last!!!!
finally. Thanks to the hacker
Awesome Decision !!!
can i have the list , it will be easy :) u know what,
If top 1000 are blocked, the next 1000 will be visited....by the ones who aren't savvy enough to bypass restrictions.
Bravo!