Lift the ban on YouTube

Letter June 30, 2015
The authorities are requested to hire the services of foreign IT experts so that the ban can be lifted

JAFARABAD: YouTube has remained banned in Pakistan since September 12, 2012 after the videro-sharing website refused to remove an offensive video that hurt Muslim sensibilities. The ban will only be lifted if the government develops a system that can filter out content that is deemed blasphemous on the website. Unfortunately, the government’s IT ministry has failed to develop any such system that can selectively bar access to offensive content on YouTube.

However, accessing the website is child’s play, thanks to websites and software that enable unblocking of web addresses, thereby allowing access to YouTube in Pakistan. The authorities are requested to hire the services of foreign IT experts so that the ban can be lifted. It hasn’t done much to limit YouTube access but has impacted students and professionals, who have to resort to ‘clever’ means to access academic material that is on YouTube.

Rashid Hussain Bhatti

Jafarabad

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1st,  2015.

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