YouTube breathes again: PTA directs ISPs to smother video sharing site
Few ISPs reportedly unblocked the video-sharing website on Thursday.
The ban was imposed on September 17, 2012. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
Video sharing website YouTube, which has been blocked since last September, was temporarily restored by a few Internet Service Providers (ISPs) on Thursday and was accessible even on Friday, reports said.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had banned YouTube in September 2012 after Google turned down Islamabad's request to remove blasphemous content from the website, particularly the sacrilegious video "Innocence of Muslims," which had sparked protests across the Muslim world including Pakistan.
However, this respite was not the result of any official machinery acting. An official from the telecom regulator confirmed they had not received any instructions to unblock the website and said it was still, officially, banned.
The telecom regulator issued notices to ISPs to make sure the site remains blocked and asked for a compliance report on the matter.
Readers commenting on the Express Tribune facebook page had mixed fortunes. Some people reported that YouTube was working for them, while others said it was not.
Among the ISPs that they reported it was working on was PTCL Evo in some parts of Karachi, Islamabad and Peshawar. While users of WiTribe reported that they could not access the video sharing website.
Video sharing website YouTube, which has been blocked since last September, was temporarily restored by a few Internet Service Providers (ISPs) on Thursday and was accessible even on Friday, reports said.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had banned YouTube in September 2012 after Google turned down Islamabad's request to remove blasphemous content from the website, particularly the sacrilegious video "Innocence of Muslims," which had sparked protests across the Muslim world including Pakistan.
However, this respite was not the result of any official machinery acting. An official from the telecom regulator confirmed they had not received any instructions to unblock the website and said it was still, officially, banned.
The telecom regulator issued notices to ISPs to make sure the site remains blocked and asked for a compliance report on the matter.
Readers commenting on the Express Tribune facebook page had mixed fortunes. Some people reported that YouTube was working for them, while others said it was not.
Among the ISPs that they reported it was working on was PTCL Evo in some parts of Karachi, Islamabad and Peshawar. While users of WiTribe reported that they could not access the video sharing website.