NYT report states a PTA official asked Twitter to block accounts and tweets he considered as blasphemous or unethical. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
The online social-networking and microblogging site, Twitter, has honoured five requests brought forward by Abdul Batin, an official of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), to block 'blasphemous content' in Pakistan, a New York Times report stated.
Batin had asked Twitter to block accounts, tweets or searches that he considered as blasphemous or unethical in the month of May.
Twitter complied with these five requests, meaning that this content can no longer be seen in Pakistan.
The requests called for the blocking of drawings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), photographs of burning copies of the Holy Quran and messages from a handful of anti-Islam bloggers as well as the entire account of American porn stars including one who now attends Duke University.
The NYT report also mentioned that it is the first time Twitter has agreed to block content in Pakistan.
The blocking of these tweets in Pakistan is in line with Twitter’s country-specific censorship policy uncovered in 2012. Twitter said it will post a censorship notice whenever a tweet is removed and will post the removal requests it receives from governments, companies and individuals on the watchdog website chillingeffects.org.
It must be noted, that in May 2012 Twitter was banned in Pakistan for a day due to a drawing competition.
COMMENTS (11)
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no such thing is needed ... We Should Face the Facts And TRY to ignore it ... But have to and Should see who is against us and Who is With us.... With this .. we common people won't be Able to See all this ..
No such Thing is needed .. We have to face These facts and Try to ignore it .. But we should See them cuzz we want and Should know Who is Against us and who is with us!!!
I completely supports this moves, which hurls Pakistans into the 31st centuries.
Why is it that newspapers/journalists in Pakistan are always quoting american news for things happening inside Pakistan? Cant they do their jobs themselves?
blasphemy whistle blowing is becoming a new industry in pakistan. Where will this end?
What about the hundred of twitter accounts that openly propogate terrorists like Lashkar Jhangvi,TTP and others. I have seen acounts on FB and twitter than practically promote terrorism. But our sanctity is not hurt by those.
@BruteForce: You are whining as if it were a global decision. It was done for people inside Pakistan. If you are here, leave. If not, why bother?
And the Blasphemy covers only Islam or ALL the religions?
"Batin had asked Twitter to block accounts, tweets or searches that 'he' considered as blasphemous or unethical in the month of May."
Who is "HE" and how is "HE" the authority of considering what is or isn't blasphemous? The reasons for any blocking need to be agreed and documented by the elected representatives of People of Pakistan along with individuals/groups of people/organizations with expertise on law and Freedom of Speech. At the wake of recent developments, it is evident that the word "Blasphemy" has become a toy for many. This needs to be addressed. Pronto!