PTA approved: Over 1,000 porn sites blocked in Pakistan
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 (113)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1726852090-0/Untitled-design-(20)1726852090-0-270x192.webp "china s ruyi shandong group to build textile parks in pakistan targeting 5 billion in exports")
Wellcome PTA Jo bhi site band kare gi main use open ker k dikhaonga Prove....
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???????????????
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.
excellent step
vary good job
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.
This, indeed, is a good decision. PTA should also ban those websites that post adult stories.
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..
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.
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
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
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!!
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.
Awesome Awesome Awesome
very good decision........
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.
@Ali: You are so right!
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
country is becoming a jail day by day...
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.
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!
@Sher: lets dig those old hard drives back :P
@Despo: When there is a will ! theres a way !! mines working perfectly fine too :P
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.
If he wasn't at sea, Osama would be turning in his grave.
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.
Aaj raat jitna dekhna hai dekho lo, bad scene ho gya yeh tou.
Did anybody else observe the internet speed slowed down lately?
ha ha ha... how many would they block. there are trillions of em. P.S. some of my bookmarks are workin just fine! :P
Good Job Hacker Alright. Hats off!
Back to the scratchy CDs :P
and what about the companies here which host these sites ??????
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
;)
1,000 down, 1 trillion to go.
Long live the Hacker!!!
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"!
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!