Pakistan may block Google, Youtube to deny terrorists communication source

Malik urges ISPs to extend their help to the government for exterminating the menace of terrorism from the country.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that if Google and Youtube do not help the Pakistan government, then Pakistan reserves the right to block these services to prevent terrorists from using it.

The Interior Minister who was talking to media men at the FIA headquarters on Saturday urged the internet service providers to extend their help to the government for exterminating the menace of terrorism from the country.

Talking to mediamen here at FIA headquarters, he said the government would be compelled to block certain internet service provider’s sites, if they did not extend cooperation to the government.

Malik said that Taliban and other terrorist organisations were sharing intelligence through internet and curbing these activities was imperative.

Elimination of grey networks

Further steps would be taken to improve the performance of FIA and competent lawyers would be selected for the legal branch, he said.

He said he has directed the FIA to eliminate gray traffic. In future the circle head of FIA and relevant PTA officials would be held responsible for gray traffic in their areas.

Speaking on the occasion Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Dr Mohammad Yaseen said that during the last two years 44 raids have been conducted against gray traffic and 102 persons have been arrested.

PTA had recently blocked private browsing in an attempt to disrupt terrorist communications.

Malik said that evidence showed that terrorists involved in the recent bomb blast in the Mumbai had used internet servers based in the US to communicate.