KARACHI: Condemning hate speech on the internet in general and the anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims” in particular, the Bytes for All (B4A) Pakistan said it believes that banning “channels of communication [YouTube], limiting access to information platforms and steps to curtail free expression only serve to pave the way for politics-based control systems that curb the voices of individuals.”
The B4A, a human rights organisation with a focus on Information and Communication Technologies, commented on the recent ban imposed on video sharing website YouTube as per the order of Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
The organisation stressed that the film should not be allowed to form the basis of systematic censorship and filtering of internet in the country.
It further stated that the blanket ban restricted the rights of Pakistani citizens, who wish to use the platform for counter-argument, expression and other educational and developmental purposes.
“This extreme step ignores the alternative, more conservative actions that were available to the government, including the issuing of a take-down notice to YouTube for the removal of specific content in Pakistan,” the B4A remarked.
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What do u people think banning youtube is gonna do?
I have serious doubts about intelligence level of our govt planners and decesion makers.80% of our population live in villages where there is no electricity.what to talk of internet .90% of our people have no access to internet. what is idea of banning YTUBE ,
So tell me gentlemen, you show the world how tough you are by destroying your fellow Muslims belongings? On TV they showed gigantic masses of people protesting, but did they know what they were protesting against? Did any of them even know what the Internet was or what the movie was about? I highly doubt it.
And now the ban Youtube in Pakistan. What good will that do? Just ignore the movie and carry on watching your favorite videos or ban the video itself. Let me give you an example, if one player in a Cricket team is bad, it doesn't mean that the entire team is bad. It would have lot's of good players who are on the top of their game.
we muslims love our prophet so much that we cant tolerate fun of our prophet but we love him very very much. We can do any thing to show love for him for example we can make fun of his sunnahs and avoid them by making a lame excuse...we love him as much that weecan protest at the time of friday in full hot sunny day but we cant offer friday prayer...we love his so much and show the brotherhood among us by destroying the properties of our own brothers...THINK ABOUT IT GUYS...
On youtube i must say that youtube is a source of information for most of us...it provides a lot of information and entertainment so i dont think that youtube should be ban in Pakistan...
majority of people who are familiar with internet are still able to use youtube by using different techniques. youtube should not be banned in the name of love of Prophet because those who are addicted of youtube are still using it and if we think that we really love our prophet then we should boycott their all products and we should make our own products that can beat them...but the problem is that we dont have any thing...
youtube the best video website google the best search engine
few days back i received sms in which it was asked to boycott you tube and google which i did...but the problem was that when i tried to search something i use some other search engine which was not giving result like google...so we should make our selves eligible enough and then should think of banning them...
i look this whole incident in this way we live in a country where 3 children drowned in rawal dam and govt imposed "dafa 144" in rawal dam...how ridiculous is this thing? may be there will be a time when a road accident occurs and people get banned for taking their vehicles on road...its funny but their is every possibility of this thing...
we are really shocked with the youtube response on removing this video but to banning youtube is not the solution...we should make videos against the maker of that film and upload it on youtube and then see what youtube say about that video...
Assalam-u-Alekum! I wonder what Sir Syed Ahmed Khan would have said to the ban on Youtube had he been alive? We Muslims are still there where we were when the British were here in the sub-continent; don't get modern education, don't study English, boycott everything British because we hate the British! Sir Syed Ahmed Khan told us to get modern education, study English, learn modern skills and tools so that we can compete with and then beat the British. Expressing sentiments, venting anger and never using the brain for any long time good is all that we Muslims do best. If you have not already then please watch Steven Spielberg's Munich. It is a historical film about how after the Palestinians killed 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympics, the Israeli government first found out and then killed ALL the Muslims who were in any way involved. We must pull ourselves together and stop slapping our own faces and breaking our own jaws. What is the purpose of restricting sources of information? I have never seen the Danish caricatures; I am just a humble ummati of The Prophet pbuh. How long did the ban on Danish products last and what purpose did that serve? Now we are being asked to ban Made in USA products; and do what? start relying on our own technology? I should get rid of my i-pad, my i-phone, my laptop and do what? take out the takhti?
I suggest we open a website similar to youtube and do some competition as much as possible. What do you think ?
well, i was reading comments of other people on a site regarding this ban...a person wrote something very beautiful that banning youtube is just like to burn a library full of knowledge just because of one book, you think is to be condemned. I'd like to take us back on the day when almost everywhere in Pakistan, we saw protests, we saw masses of people, gathering in the name of Islam. But, what they were doing ? what we all were doing? Those who were in the streets burned public properties, destroyed everything that pleased them. I saw cars , bikes, burning. I saw children stealing away others belongings and running away. I just want to question one thing that did those children and most of those adults even know the name of that movie about which they were so agitated? Did they know who directed it or what was the story or script of the movie? I can rightfully say that less than 5% would have known what they were protesting about. All of the nation was being amused by the whosoever you call the anti-islamic countries. Now i think they have got a better plan for the next time. They would make fun of our religion and instead of being punished, they ll see our country burning and its people suffering from loss and bans. Now, as far as youtube is concerned, let me be very clear about it. Ok i havent used it was banned, so now does the youtube administration i feeling anything bad that me or any other or millions of users arent using their site? Did we use to pay something for its use? No! they don't even consider this ! Our politicians, i would like to give an applause to their cunning minds ! They always circle us up into some foolish traps and hide whatever is right. Did our Govt threaten America that Pakistan would block their Supply Lines? Did they make any such demand which would really affect those nation or countries? No! instead of making such decisions, they even didnt let our minds go to that side and spread this fuss about bans and all that. Keep youtube blocked for years, and it wont do anything. We as Muslims have to revive our traditions and values so that all should know what are Muslims and what their Holy personalities mean to them, what their religion means to them. So that they should never try doing such things again. We have to think calmly and rationally, or else we would lose what little we are left with. Thanks
i conndemned the ban of youtube.its true that GOVT has deprived me from a large source of information.can i register my complain anywhere.it is internet and no need to block utube.millions people are wishing to unblock utube but they r silent against these terrorists.
so true!! since the protest started the views on the video has increased by thousands!!@Haroon Khan:
AoA. Muslims unite and make your own youtube.
I have seen that PTA had done great in the recent past. It had banned a number of websites and also videos on YouTube. The most important step i would like to mention is that PTA had made this opportunity available to all surfers to report such websites.
In this scenario, I believe, it wasn't necessary to ban YouTube in whole.
My aged father listned to Quranic translations on YouTube everyday. Pakistani govt doesnt see other sides to this issue. As some one has mentioned before, banning youtube is like burning a library fullof books just because one of them contains something blasphemous.
The way protests are taking place is in Pakistan is not right. Protest has to be peacefuly. I would suggest a more meaningful protest thought. Having said that ban on youtube by GOP is 100% justified. I am not a an extrimist but I feel frustated at the dual policies of West. That movie was a direct attempt to hurt a particular community "Muslims". Still youtube believes that movie did not violate its own terms of service? Ironic. Try to post something questioning holocaust and it gets removed immediately.
Youtube should be kept under a ban until they remove the objectionable material. I am a youtube addict but I am happily surrendering my right to information for my beloved Prophet Peace Be Upon Him.
So my dear B4A you should not be concerned about the rights which me and every muslim in Pakistan is happily willing to surrender for the sake of my Prophet Peace Be Upon Him. Its a very peaceful protest. So nobody should have any problem with that. Why don't you conduct a survey in Pakistan asking whether ban on youtube should be lifted or no before the removal of the content under discussion?
there is an alternative for everything @Haroon Khan you can get finance lectures on Khan Academy it covers a vast variety of topics. So kindly log on to http://www.khanacademy.org/
The move to ban YouTube has been totally uncalled for. Muslims all over the world are resorting to violence and extreame measures just to protest against the blasphemous movie. What I want to remind such people is this that Islam is the religion of peace and nowhere does it allow anyone to resort to voilence or to allow murder. We should try changing ourselves rather than try to mould the whole world according to our ideas. By committing such extreme measures we are just strengthening the views of anti Islamists and making way for further such acts.
The move to ban YouTube is totally uncalled for. Such blasphemous acts are nothing new so instead of resorting to violence and childish antics, we should try to portray the real message of Islam. People say that we should kill the maker of this movie or that it was totally justified to kill the Ameican ambassador in Syria. What I want to ask these Muslims is that where in the Islamic teachings is it written for Muslims to murder someone in cold blood, where is it written to destroy the properties of innocent people and to resort to violence for the sake of your principles. Islam is the religion of peace and our Prophet(P.B.U.H) is the most dignified human being. And it was he(p.b.u.h) who prayed for the people to taef after they injured him with stones rather than taking on the offer of Hazrat Jibrael to destroy them. And then there are we, the successors of this glorious religion. Really are we even qualified to call us Muslims? What good will it do by the banning of YouTube. Instead of calling for bans we should counter it with our own actions of peace. The only way to bring an end to such actions is by promoting our religion and its true message and this is only possible if we ourselves change the course of our actions. The anti Islamists base their opinions on what they see and hear about and by doing this we are only strengthening their beliefs and making way for further acts as this one.
@Haroon Khan
I totally second your comment. We must make ourselves worth of it that the world respects our views on our religion. But I think the ban on youtube is only symbolic to protest against it. It will be opened in a few days. I think this much protest is ok and needed.
I would rather have it banned then people hurt!
I am searching for a film that was made in early 20th century - Jud Suess (German), the most anti-semitic ever. I want to post it on YouTube and see how long does it remain posted there.
On a positive note, we in Pakistan can take this as a challenge and opportunity to develop our own specific software solutions, for file sharing, search engines, etc etc. like China has developed Baidu. Food for thought.
I don't think B4A atheists understand that majority of Pakistanis support this ban.
Honestly, I had never heard of this video until us Muslims began protesting against it. In a way, we Muslims acted as distribution agents for the makers of this film.
I often use youtube for lectures on finance and so does my sister for ACCA lectures. Now we need to look for other (possibly paid) venues.
I don't say we ignore the film and its makers but a blanket ban on the youtube is not the right way in my opinion. If the Government of Pakistan had to take such a big action, I suppose creating a forum for this would have been more sensible.
The forum could have a petition which could be signed by the population of Pakistan, and other hard copies of the petition could also be circulated around to get the non-internet-user to sign it as well.
Imagine 100 million or more (if the petition is floated internationally) people demanding (1) youtube to take down the video and its copies and block the user from the website and (2) the US Government to take action against the makers of this film. I believe that would generate far better results than the violent behavior we'er showing on our streets with destruction of private and public property and blind website bans.
We have been banning website and stuff over the years but that hasn't stopped the miscreants from creating such content. The fact of the matter is that such content is generated every day. Just type "Prophet Muhammad is" in Google and see what kind of auto-complete hints are suggested there. This has and will always happen, and our violent and immature reactions only give mileage to such content. I'm pretty sure the creators of this film are grinning inside having made something that "shook the world".
In my humble opinion, we, as Muslims, should ignore such content (for the time being) and work or building a positive image of Islam in the world along with achieving great development in all areas of life at first. And once we are in a position to curb such actions, we can do it without having to resort to petty violence (like America can if someone commits and anti-American crime).
I suppose we could all benefit from something my grandfather once told me: "Raise yourself before you raise your Ego..."
Those who don't want to use YouTube, should not!! But let those who want to use it, use it!
If you boycott YouTube because of your love for Islam, go ahead but leave others out of it! Just because it hurts your immature feelings doesn't mean that you should force others into not using the website as well!
Either the writer is so naive that he/she doesnot came to know that many Govt have tried to contact Google and Youtube for removing those videos but without any response or he/she just cannot think of offending US who is their Master...
I totally agree with A2Z about these so called Human right Organizations who only wake up when we do anything. Where were they when their masters are making mockery of our beloved Reiligion, Our beloved Prophet (SAW) in the name of Freedom of Expression!!??
@A2Z:
"I hope this is enough for B4A, the so called human rights organization, which never issued any statement regarding the movie but are quick to condemn ban on youtube."
Kindly read the statement before writing long, ignorant comments.
I fully support Bytes on this.
After all its YouTube. Not oxygen, water or food. We can surely survive without it. It didn't exist 7 years back.
@Mj: Poor analogy. In fact nobody is "burning the library" rather shutting down the library for few days until the "offensive book" is removed.
For B4A, here is the policy of youtube for such hate speech "We encourage free speech and defend everyone's right to express unpopular points of view. But we don't permit hate speech (speech which attacks or demeans a group based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, and sexual orientation/gender identity)."
I reported a video and this is the reply which I got from youtube "We’re unable to identify a violation of our Community Guidelines within your recent report to our Safety and Abuse Tool"
I hope this is enough for B4A, the so called human rights organization, which never issued any statement regarding the movie but are quick to condemn ban on youtube.
I posted this comment earlier but ET does not publish it. I hope they will do it this time.
Remove ban from youtube
its a good decision. We should take all necessary steps to protest against this blasphemous act. Can't we afford a few days ban on a website for our beloved Prophet (S.A.W).
Pakistan's action is similar to burning down a whole library if a single book contained in it is deemed offensive.
I thought GOP's request for filtering the offensive media in Pakistan was turned down by Google? I am a what you call a 'liberal' but this is even where I would draw a line. It is just not acceptable to ridicule other people's faith so callously under the cover of free speech! I support GOP for banning YouTube
Youtube has violated OUR terms and conditions hence banned in OUR country. I believe most of the Pakistanis support this decision.
Please ban all Anti-Religions videos ...