60% Pakistanis think Google is apathetic towards Muslims: Survey

69% of Pakistanis had positive opinion of Google before the ban but the figure decreased to 23% after the ban.


Web Desk April 11, 2013
Google is indifferent towards Pakistan as it blocked the controversial video from YouTube in India, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia but not Pakistan.

Twenty seven percent of Pakistanis think Google is indifferent towards Pakistan as it blocked the controversial video from YouTube in India, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia but not Pakistan. While 60 percent thought the search engine is against Islam and Muslims, Propakistani reported on Thursday.

A survey was conducted by Rozee Research to find out the effects of the YouTube ban on the educated segment of Pakistan.

They survey primarily wanted to find respondents’ views regarding Google, the Government of Pakistan and what kind of effect the ban had. Also, to discover which segment, students, employed or unemployed was most affected.

Respondents take on Google

Respondents had mixed opinion regarding “why Google has not blocked video”.

Around 25 percent thought Google simply did not care, 24 percent were of the view that Google was being hypocritical, 20 percent  blamed Google of upholding interest of the US State Department and CIA and 19 percent said Google was against Muslims.

The rest of the respondents thought it did not violate YouTube’s terms of use.

If the response of males and females are compared, the males became more prejudiced towards Google after the ban. Only 7 percent considered Google unfavorable before ban but the figure rose to 40 percent after the ban. The females were also of the same opinion.

Impartial Google?

A majority of the respondents, be it students, employed or unemployed felt Google was being unreasonable by not removing the controversial video.

Around 60 percent of each segment were wary of Google’s indifference towards the ban.

Government of Pakistan

Varied opinions came to view when respondents were asked who was to blame; the government or Google?

Around 48 percent termed Google’s decision to not remove the video as the reason behind the continuous ban.

Approximately 30 percent blame the government of not launching an official campaign while the rest either thought there is pressure from political parties to keep the ban or neither of the parties (Google and Government) is interested in removing the ban on YouTube.

For or against?

Respondents had a divided opinion on the ban. Forty six percent were against the ban while 44 percent felt it was justified.

Of the people who were unhappy with the ban, 35 percent blamed Google and Sam Bacile (creator of video) while the rest distributed the blame to government, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and Rehman Malik.

With 52 percent of females opposing the ban, they had a more decided opinion compared to the males who were equally divided on opposing or appreciating the ban.

Result of the Ban

Around 88 percent of the respondents used YouTube before the ban but the figure lowered to 12 percent after the ban

Interestingly, quite a less number of the unemployed (13 percent) and employed respondents (11 percent) were able access YouTube as compared to the students (15 percent).

According to the survey, YouTube was mainly used as source of entertainment (69 percent) and a small percentage suffered monetary loss due to the ban. Nine per cent users suffered financial loss whereas 6 percent of advertisers faced loss.

Majority of the respondents, 70 percent, used YouTube to view self-help videos.

COMMENTS (22)

Genesis | 10 years ago | Reply

@I am a Khan: Technology and science has come in large doses only from non muslims because they allow and support an open mind.There has been no contribution to science in recent times.

cautious | 10 years ago | Reply

Google has entered into agreements with 42 countries (including Muslim countries such as Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia etc) to provide local versions of You Tube - those countries were willing to jump through the hoops necessary to get localized versions and were free to ban the offending video - Pakistan didn't - End of Story.

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