KARACHI: Micro-blogging website Twitter has been restored in Pakistan on Sunday night, after an almost day long ban.
Sources have confirmed that Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik has spoken to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who ordered concerned authorities to unblock the site.
Micro-blogging website Twitter had been temporarily banned across Pakistan on Sunday by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
Express News correspondent Suhail Chaudhry had reported that the access to Twitter was blocked due to an ongoing “competition” of Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) caricatures.
This move was made, keeping in mind the “emotions of the masses” reported Chaudhry.
Earlier, PTA Chairman Dr Mohammad Yaseen said the regulator was asked by the Ministry of Information and Technology to block the website in the country.
“We just passed on the directives to the Internet Service Providers (ISPs),” he told The Express Tribune. “I can’t say for how long the website will remain blocked.”
Pakistan’s government had asked Twitter to stop a discussion on Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), which was considered derogatory, Yaseen said, adding that “Twitter refused our request.”
Government and the website officials were in negotiations.
The PTA had blocked access to Twitter directly from the upstream links without notifying the ISPs, according to Wahajuz Siraj, convener for Internet Services Providers Association of Pakistan (ISPAK).
Express News had reported that the Ministry of Information and Technology tried getting through to authorities on Twitter throughout the night and that about five faxes were sent to the micro-blogging website.
Eventually, in reply to PTA’s e-mail, Twitter authorities replied saying that they “cannot stop any individual doing anything of this nature on the website”.
Google Pakistan Country Consultant Badar Khushnood had confirmed the blockage on his Twitter account.
One ISP, on condition of anonymity had advised callers registering complaints to use Vtunnel and proxies as an alternate to access Twitter.
While the micro-blogging website was blocked, it was accessible by means of mobile phones and secure browsers such as Opera Mini.
COMMENTS (153)
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@AFPAK: get a life man its not something about banning free speech! its about religious values being abused.i am sure there are lots of favored platforms which will definitely allow you to express your free speech like Grammy's award won by sharmin obaid...think whole world's fool as if we don't know who has been fighting n fighting these stupid fundamentalist wars from centuries and is currently in engage in multiple of them...
@Iqbal Qadir: Then why are you on the internet? LOLS!!
@OP: Agreed!
If it was totally upto these so called ministers, they would ban mobile phones, land lines and tv channels also, while they sip their "beverages". You cannot control what people say around the world - if someone says something offensive about our Prophet (SWA) - ignore it and move on. That person will answer to God not to you, me or this hypocritical drunk government. They banned it because of the rise of PTI not anything else. And Pakistan - stop being so absorbed in religion that minorities are attacked, women are humiliated and raped for minor offenses while a minor majority of you knows even one verse of the Quran. Separation of state and religion is a must and that was the vision Quaid had before everyone after him turned a potential golden opportunity in this great land into a disaster! Cheers.
@kaalchakra: agreed Pakistan should ban everything and we should all grow beards and live in caves even the women! We need not study Islam as the bearded ones will have wisdom dripping from their mouths - the more emotional the more wise.... lets recreate Pakistan and recreate Islam into the Mullahs version!
Just used Twitter for two hours. Also prayed and kept my belief in Allah. Still going to Hell.
A sad day, This was a great opportunity to ban Twitter and Facebook forever. The nation needs to stop wasting time on unproductive activities which can lead good Muslims astray. I hope soon another opportunity arises.
It had nothing to do with blasphemy. It was blocked to prevent Tweeters from making fun of #Zardari and his visit to US and possible humiliation
Ban internet. It is infidel technology.
@iqbal why is the world approval necessary for anything? isnt world view a subjective term that changes with age? the humans have not evolved into enlightenment. we are no smarter than our predecessors. their views and our views of the world are different. so who was right? as a Muslim you have to accept the view of Islam and if you have time you should study our world view. you will find it is ironically very liberating, peaceful and just than the subjective world view you seem to seek.
@imran con i suggested a peaceful remedy and also a islamically correct (as far as i can muster) analysis of why PTA did what it did. you want to investigate this let me know. then again people do get violent at this. it is a fact. and they are a lot of people. so it again shows western hypocrisy as they clearly state in their charter that anything inciting violence will not be regarded as freedom of speech. they do not outline the permissiveness of the violence as you are implying. the human rights' charter also states religions should not be insulted. so it is further proof of western hypocrisy. seeking out the world opinion over anything is shambolic since most people are victims of their whims and desires even if they are "educated" and have different levels of intelligence. so that part of your statement is incorrect as well. might do good to read upon islamic view of freedom of expression which is more accurate and balanced: http://www.caliphate.eu/2009/04/islams-view-towards-freedom-of-speech.html
@Ahmad Mirza: Every school kid knows, if u show irritation when someone is trying to tease u the whole class will get after you. These guys just want to have fun, by showing u are getting irritated you are making sure they have a party. This competition on twitter would have been a non event had you ignored it now you have made sure it will be a HUGE HIT.
@MrTenPercent:" But due to the cartoon issue, our country put a ban on scholarships to Sweden" That is hard to beat
They always mock us and succeed and we being utter fools always respond.
Pakistan government should ban everything that the mullahs get even the slight bit emotional about.... its better if electricity is cut to pakistanis also as it may be a trick of bad jinns and roads that are concreted over should also be banned as its bidah they should have sand thrown over them to make them compliant with the national lets be future mullahs of pakistan movement
wt a shameful act by Govt, they shouldnt have blocked the tweeter instead they should have raise the voice in parliament
Why only in Pakistan ? Making a joke of itself.
Ban the "banning of free speech" to bring Pakistan in to 21st century...
@True Muslim Paki: Warning about what? They might get some peace if they irritate you enough?
@Reaching out to the left: Nothing doesn't incite violence from Muslims. The world has to make an exception for you. You forced it.
...Muslims simply ignoring something and not taking offense? People are dreaming.
Being a Muslim, I don’t think it necessary to promote freedom of such expressions. In fact, it must be banned because it promotes hate among various religions.
Atleast we should try to understand the gravity of the situation. It is extremely painful to muslims commenting on this action with such an indifferent attitude that it looks like they have not been given religious education at all. They have not been told who the Prophet was and what considerations are required to keep our Emaan intact. Otherwise we are only muslims by name and having no Emaan at heart the muslim name will not be of any favour in the Hereafter.
This is a very alarming situation that people are continously humiliating the best of mankind and most of us are not objecting it. This is nothing but a time to save our Emaan. May Allah give us guidance to live and die as a muslim
I totally agree with the comments of Mr. Sani Raza Khanani.. Saudi Arabia was suppose to banned this site as well because the person is a big share holder of Twitter.. dont know what was the propaganda behind this all drama
...unblocked through Rehman Malik's initiative. - a true Jedi knight's act.
I don't see anything wrong in blocking such website. We don't have to be too much obsessed with free speech and other such notions. They are never there in any part of the world. You can try to dress up like OBL or draw his graffiti or post his pictures or cartoons on your website, they are sure going to be blocked. PTA should be more proactive to take action against websites, which are not sensitive to our concerns. Remember what happened with Ashton Kutcher advertisement? If don't please check up.
Why not it is blocked? It is extreme shamelessness from an islamic country like Pakistan.
Good going.... i thought that this step of govt would be well praised after such a long time...This should have been done earlier with facebook too,ultimate ban to these sites would have warn those who think this is some kind of a joke.. to play with emotions,values and culture of someone.Now i really see a " a real pak youth".surprising! all we are getting is "Now the govt should ban pen,pencil n papers??? Amazing! actually this is a state which shows how confuse we are.Live your life out of a hypocrisy
"Rehman Malik had spoken to the prime minister, who ordered for the site to be unblocked."
Geeeeayyyyy bhuttoooo!! now i will vote for PPP.
@Sani Raza Khanani: Prince Talal is a twenty percent owner of NewsCorp. He owns Fox News, the greatest opponents of Islam in the media. I really doubt he would do anything
@Khurram Shahzad: And further isolate your self from the world?
Not a good idea.
The Men sent by God to this world cannot be degraded by normal human beings. They are above hatred and showered love even on those who abused and condemned them. Those who are preturbed by some mischief mongerers are not true followers of Prophet Muhammad who gave a message of love to his followers for such ignorant people. I am not a Muslim but read his life story and what impressed me most that he gave message what he practised in his life, which made me write this comment.
Ban the internet. You can find all kinds of crazy stuff on it. I'm going to burn my books, prescription glasses and my car. I'm growing a beard and riding a camel. Wear my pants high, and get closer to my Arab roots.
Hindu's & Christians make fun of their own gods. They don't take religion seriously & not pious as we are. So, we can't even retaliate! So, I think a ban on twitter would at least send a warning to social media sites!
@Sam: Why didn’t saudi government or other Islamic countries block Twitter!!! because they are true muslims.
It is just Topi Drama, they want to continue NATO supply and they want to barred the social media pressure agains the NATO supply, from last few days #geolostnato , #blocknato and #JI4nation was the top trending at twitter. in same days MQM and Qadyani groups tried to low down these trends but they could not stopped the expression of real sentiment pakistani people.
The 1/3 that want to leave pakistan are right here on tribune :)
To follow an independent debate on this ban follow the comments on skynews. http://news.sky.com/portal/site/skynews/menuitem.ee7913f6661fec1eb2221910413071a0/?vgnextoid=96fd1c9cbe967310VgnVCM1000005d04170aRCRD&vgnextchannel=406d13a367a67110VgnVCM1000009811d20aRCRD#commentForm Just shows how the world thinks of us. It appears we are living in the stone age. Can the last person leaving Pakistan please switch of the lights.
ABSOLUTELY RIGHT WELL DONE we should have done this very earlier but plz ban twitter for good we always forget this with the passage of time and then start using it again.
brilliant...should be banned for ever
@Waqas: Please. Grow up. Realise it's not going to happen. The western world is not going to bend over backwards for people they already wrongly consider to be savages. If people have a problem with the blasphemy, they should leave Twitter. And ignore the things. Trust me, there are a lot worse things happening out there. And it's not like these things could ever hurt the Prophet in any way. He has 1.5 billion followers. I don't think a few idiots making caricatures will tarnish his reputation. What might tarnish his name(naoozubillah) is this kind of reaction towards everything. Take Sweden for example. Here's a country which provides free education and has benefited many Pakistanis seeking high quality education in the past. But due to the cartoon issue, our country put a ban on scholarships to Sweden. Goodbye sanity. Goodbye tolerance. Hello radicalism. We as a nation just love to chop our own legs with hatchets
Banning twitter won't stop the blasphemy.
Ironically the ruling party is the most liberal party in the country, yet time and time again they've passed conservative laws to appease the militant right-wing in this country.
Such as banning alcohol,extra-marital relations,social media, and even adult entertainment sites, this Government is even censoring our text messages.
Pakistan is turning into a police state.
No porn, no facebook, no twitter, no beer, no girls, no electricity, no nothing. No wonder people are resorting to violence.
This makes me so angry. When will these idiots learn? They can't stop things like this. They live in an age where anyone can write anything without repercussions. And they need to stop advocating their false piety and filling their own pockets. It's no coincidence that the word "moolah" is American slang for "money". I am sick and tired of these overly religious busybodies shoving their opinions down our throats.
OMG they need to grow up. This is no reason to block twitter. there are million such things goin on the internet what are they goin to kill the internet aswell. Sometimes they make so silly n stupid decisions.
A necessary and very appropriate move. Nobody has a right to offend the religious sensibility of any Muslim.
I think Govt. should ban televisions, cameras, loudspeakers, airlines, electricity, automobiles etc. Because surely the one who is committing blasphemy is also using all these services. Why don't we use these mediums to spread love and harmony and try to let others know so that nobody even commit blasphemy.
No matter how better we pose ourselves as liberals, our acts are not synced to what we say. I think we are at point of no return from imploding ourselves.
It should'nt be resumed now and people should stay away from twitter after this
@Jat:
how do u know?? any proof??
It seems that we are the only Muslim state in the world....
Good decision
Sign the petition to restore Twitter! http://chn.ge/twitterpk
ban facebook too it has more blasphemous pages than twitter
Facebook was very successful that they now blocked Twitter !!! Country is run by fools.
rediculuos act! showing thier limited mentality
@umer:
Biggest lie of the universe. Muslims slander everyone; Muslim or non-Muslim. Why else do you think so many sectarian murders occur in Pakistan?
There is a concerted effort from Indian news media like Times of India, HIndustan Times etc., to slander Islam and Prophet. The western media ( Jewish) have institutionalised hatred against Muslims on a day to day basis. Muslims on the other hand never slander against other religions.
I dont think anti-blasphemy mard-e-momins get how things work.
if your ideology says you cannot play football on sunday, that doesnt mean you try to ban playing football on sundays.
It means that YOU cannot play football on sundays. I can play all the football on sunday I damn well please.
If your ideology is opposed to drawing caricatures etc, that doesnt mean you ban it. It means YOU cannot draw caricatures.
Basically you DO NOT force your beliefs on others.
Guys
I do not understand even if GOP blocked Twitter why you people are so much bothered? what will happen if you will not send useless twitter for 2-3 days.. How many of you use it for good purpose and what good purpose it provides? Its not even social networking like Facebook that will cut you off from your contacts. GROW UP stop complaining for every thing. Problem is YOU people not the one who are making ! twitter do not are about millions of Muslim emotions and You crying over there service being blocked. I call it educated illiterate
Of the 1.6 billion muslims, Pakistanis are the most emotionally volatile, highly inflammable "ThakaDars" of Islam".
Well ! As a regular user I find this really irritating , perhaps the govt has not noticed that pro Islamic tweets are trending everyday and all that they are doing is publicising it ,. I for one had never even heard of this competition until today !
twitter was blocked because of the growing presence of anti govt and nato voices. no other reason.
Yet more proof the middle east is NOT ready for western tech. Its simple, don't like it don't it and DON'T WHINE ABOUT IT!
for those people who support this ban. Kindly put on your thinking caps. By banning the website you wont be able to stop the blasphemous material. It is better to educate people who are posting such content. This way the world will see we are not reactionary extremist fools that we are being rightfully portrayed so. Why hasnt Twitter been banned in progressive Muslim countries like Turkey, Malaysia, Jordan etc. Hell, its not even banned in KSA or Afghanistan. Why only Pakistan that takes such extreme steps. Gullible nation we are.
Ban everything, ban sanity also.
when Twitter can stop porn, then it can stop these actions by setting some rules.
User generated content is still controllable but upto some extent not everything can be stopped. Check youtube and you can upload any sort of videos but yes when enough people REPORT IT as offensive or spam YouTube shut it down.
@Ahmed:
With almost every group being killed in the name of religion in Pakistan and with horrendous barbaric blasphemy law in place it’s hard to defend the religion. You should be angry at the Mullahs for these wrongdoings and not at others.
Fully support the government for blocking twitter.
So Facebook is next ? or even The Internet. Lets not be an Ostrich and hide our self , PTA should have forced Twitter to delete those account which caused distress, not just Banned Twitter in Pakistan .. because we are not stopping anything. We are hiding only. I have done my part of complaining to PTA http://bit.ly/JulaRb . Guess others should do it aswell.
Good Step !
i think the powers that be testing the waters, both social acceptability and ability to do it. twitter and even msg boards for the first time allows this level of open connectivity and it make for nervous rulers who would rather keep doing what they want in relative silence.
Pakistanis shouldn't be on the infidel internet anyway.
Those who are so sentimental are the only one's who go to such sites and look at it. I have never even tried or ever lured to look so why do mullahs have to do it.
I didn't even know about what was happening on Twitter .... thanks PTA , now the whole knows...
@Sam:
The same Saudis who have huge stake in twitter?
Prince Walid bin Talal of Saudi Arabia has taken a $300 million stake in the social media start-up Twitter
Unlikely they would like to ban it and reduce its business potential. Money is apparently superior to everything including religion.
How low can they go?
Relax people, this is just gonna be like the government blocking NATO supply routes.
Question: When we make fun of their religion, Especially the Hindus, Forward texts and humiliate their gods, don't we do same thing? Is it okay to make fun of them?
then some say maybe we should use facebook and twitter to educate the world about islam:
no, we are only criticizing those who are actually doing something. i have rarely seen any effort made by anyone who criticized banning of facebook to teach the west about actual islam. it is ironically those who opposed facebook (the majority atleast) who are doing this. its ironic isnt it?
so if you do plan to use twitter and facebook. walk the talk : )
@lahore school of economics: Well said , one thing which we realized in school as kids is that if someone is trying to tease you the easiest way of stopping it is to let that person think that you are not affected.If you show that you are upset the whole class will get after you.
This government supports bloodthirsty despots in the ME by sending troops, Mullahs run rampage in the over the country killing Muslims and minorities in their homes and places of worship - yet with the free media they have suddenly had an awakening :-) Amusing
I'm missing twitter like anything.... :(((
well the next logical step would be to ban books and pens in Pakistan in case someone decides to write a blaspehmous book .. what a shameful ACT !!!
A very sane decision of the govt.
Banning social networks and important websites is like pulling a thick curtain in front of your window and pretending that the sun has stopped shining. The blasphemy will continue to occur..you just won't be able to see it and respond to it.
Grow up, and acknowledge that some people simply do not like your religious beliefs and they make fun of it. If you go around whining and rioting over every single internet troll who posts something offensive on the internet, you'll have absolutely no time to focus on anything else.
Who came with this senseless theory that it’s a Muslim’s job to check what the rest of 5 billion non-Muslims think about religion? Why would non-Muslims care about Islam, they by definition don’t believe in Islam or Prophet (pbuh)
Its not enough
@Asad Shairani: You people are absolutely mindless, you dont love your religion and its values, you can just raise fingers against govt good deeds, there will be a campaign on Twitter against our Prophet and you are raising objections against Twitter Ban?
So all the non believers and agnostics Muslims out there who are Internet addicts.. Try writing something against obama and use will see the consequences.. Try write something against America or Israel and use will know what they do to you.. Now when someone is writing against our belief why are used people so hesitant on PTAs action. The its nothing new china Iran Russia some countries of Europe did the same in the past.. I think that's the best PTA could do.. Those who still want to take part in the competition should use other ways.. No one is stopping them.
I think it's not enough, our government has to take a permanent reaction for these acts..........
There was a tweet byy rehman malik that Twitter and facebook are not being banned and these r rumours
But why isn't Facebook is block ......... there must be a reason in that ........ Facebook should also be block they r the creators ......they should be Ban in Pakistan too .... Or they is something fishy in that , #BlockNATOSupply #GetLostNATO hope not because of these Protests twitter is block .....
When will the government realize that banning something as massive as a social network doesn't help serve the purpose! You are just making international headlines as being a fool! It's not only Islam, but Christianity, Hinduism and many other religions that are mocked regularly only. So is banning it completely going to help us? It just makes the opponent win and make us look like fools who can't deal with technology. The internet is OPEN SPACE...You cannot control it. But with blocking it, you sure could be making many entrepreneurs lose a day's work and worth millions of investments in online technology. As it is Pakistan is a fallen state in terms of technology and these bans make it more deplorable. We need educated ministers - seriously.
I'm surprised how such a thing can go on Twitter when a Saudi Prince also has a stake in the social networking website :O
Salam, I gone through this chain of comments and also from 2010 chain on same issue. There are two school of thoughts. One who said just block such a site and they are not ready to compromise on this issue . Second against this blocking and think that instead of blocking we should record our protest by making a page against this page or by some other means or ignore this page. Somehow both are right and have strong arguments to advocate their point of view. Let me add one more point or a question to ask. why don’t we think about making our own such a social networking website ?
Everytime PTA acts, it does something that makes me laugh !
Main target is PTI and its fans
@maryam: by blocking the site, we're not ignoring them -- we're reacting. This is sort of like cutting your phone line because two people in your neighborhood are talking to each other on their phones.
Someone in power has clearly never heard of the Streisand effect.
Twitter Blockade in Pakistan
Despite being a regular Twitter user , I support its pre-emptive blockade in Pakistan due to imminent campaign of competition about caricatures about Holy Prophet Muhammad PBUH being launched on Twitter today by certain users. Twitter has refuse to block it ,in the name of freedom of expression.
Saudi Prince Talal who has a huge financial stake in Twitter must use his influence to ask Twitter management to block this campaign.
Good! Finally Govt is only following Court orders. Lets praise them for that :)
Lame duck Govt. with lame duck excuses.
@Muhammad Waqas: At least Twitter administration would realize that publishing blasphemous content on their website is wrong. Blocking their website in a country gives them a great blow and forces them to consider and realize the severity of such an act, at least.
Being a Muslim, I don't think it necessary to promote freedom of such expressions. In fact, it must be banned because it promotes hate among various religions.
If rulers think buying/bribing the electronic media n some anchors n by now blocking Twitter, they can get away,Learn from ARAB uprisings. Why Twitter banned / blocked in Pakistan - May 20, 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDaJuoQkEus
@Asad Shairani: Twitter is equally responsible for helping blasphemy by allowing it to happen on their website. The website can chalk out a set of rules that would force its users to respect others race, religion, emotions etc. Why doesn't the website allow porn to be published on it?? After all it falls into the category of " freedom of expression" as does publishing blasphemous content !
We need to grow thicker skins and stop getting offended at each and every joke, cartoon, and caricature. The world looks at us as if we're children throwing tantrums.
Get a life all of you folks throwing a tantrum and accusing government. Better to ban the website than have thousands of folks burning rubber tires on streets through out Pakistan.
The real reason of this ban is the 'shut up Hillary' campaign by some Pakistanis. The Pak government cannot afford to make Americans any more angry.
Pathetic govt and their pathetic cliched gimmicks
Please some one try to mock Holocaust or better 9-11 and see how quickly your page gets deleted. Why the sentiments of muslims are any less than those of others. Those who advise to ignore this hypocrisy are unaware of history and facts. Such moves should not be ignored and should be protested against.
well the only thing i can say is.....the discussion carries on even if it gets blocked here...best is to not to respond....they know we will respond that's why they end up doing stuff like that....if you show unity and completely ignore them ...they will lose interest..... there are a lot of people who say loads of things which we muslims dont really like...but then again best is to ignore....let it be...... be strong in your own faith......satan is everywhere....you cant put a tape to its whispering and such....i know a lot of you wont agree bt then....do value your own worth...the more you're agitated the more other side enjoys...
Brilliant!
They are getting publicity free of cost...
They should just Ban the Internet, Will make life a lot More Easier..
Oh i actually wanted to tweet this ! *hit
Just who sends 'fax' nowadays? =P
we need to stop giving attention to such competitions. if we start ignoring them they will stop. the only reason they happen is because we jump and become emotional. the respect of our religion is dear to us but we need to realize that God does not need our help to deal with such people. let them do as they please and they will be taken care of. the more we react the more such things will happen and we can not stop such things by our force.
Apparently the Pakistani authorities are extremely sensitive and follow Islamic guidelines. Their daily blasphemous practices of embezzlement, prostitution and heading illegal car rings is ignored everyday. About time they banned the government.
Notice how within minutes the article has been shared more on Twitter than on Facebook. Proof that you can not restrict information, impose effective bans today.
For those of you who do not believe the ban does any good, and are still trying to figure the workaround, try a VPN service. OpenVPNConnect and TunnelBear are examples.
would it not have been better to allow the users themselves on material as offensive in twitter. Twitter does allow materials to reported as offensive and has the ability to censor stuff.
They should just Ban the Internet ! Will make life a lot less easier..
Oh i actually wanted to tweet this ! S**t
Why didn't saudi government or other Islamic countries block Twitter!!!
Good step
Good decision
///Twitter authorities replied saying that they “cannot stop any individual doing anything of this nature on the website”.///
PTA Owned !
Those who are hurt with the "caricatures" thing simply don't need to login to internet at first