Editorial

YouTube ban

The new administration must find ways to undo the ban.

Editorial June 10, 2013

Google, the parent company of YouTube, had rejected requests from the previous government to remove the objectionable material. DESIGN: AMNA IQBAL

A renewed debate on the YouTube ban has been heating up as the Nawaz Sharif government settles in, with hopes raised that the new administration would work to restore the video-sharing website as a matter of priority. Nine months have passed since authorities in Pakistan slapped a ban on YouTube for hosting a blasphemous video. While the previous PPP-led government and the caretakers attempted to remove the ban, they quickly backtracked in the face of a backlash from the right-wing lobby. The ban was even lifted very briefly last December, but then the government back-pedalled. In removing the ban, the government had ignored a policy advice from an inter-ministerial committee calling for continuing with the ban on the website until it agreed to remove the video voluntarily or until the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority found a way to block it — a job it has failed to do till date.

Google, the parent company of YouTube, had rejected requests from the previous government to remove the objectionable material. Still, this should not discourage the new government from pursuing the matter with perseverance and talking to the internet giant for a reversal of its decision. At the same time, the government should consider that a blanket ban on the website is in no one’s interest. It only goes to hurt the users — whether they accessed the website for entertainment, scholastic purposes or research. The example of Bangladesh can be thrown in for good measure, which recently announced lifting of a similar ban.

The new administration must find ways to undo the ban. At any rate, censorship-dodgers would always find ways to skirt regulatory controls. That, indeed, is the case with smart, internet-savvy young people, who are known to be accessing the website anyway. This alone shows that the people consider the ban to be unjustified and, therefore, the government, being the representative of the people, must lift the ban.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11^th, 2013.

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COMMENTS (9)

Aamir | 11 years ago | Reply

all users get access to Youtube via hotspot shield or proxy changers etc. really it proves that people are thinking the ban is not justice , but Pakistan govt should request Google to remove the video anti Islamic, govt of Pakistan can also sign an agreement with America, Google and Youtube for future

gp65 | 11 years ago | Reply @Kazim Muneer: What you are suggesting already exists in 49 countries i.e. a localized version of youtube which complies with all the host country's laws. That is precisely how India and Saudi Arabia have been able to remove the video from the locally installed version of youtube.. But before google will agree to that Pakistan has to pass some laws related to electronic liability and intellectual property that it has failed to do. So at this point google refuses to allow Pakistan to have a local version of youtube until that issue is fixed.

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Kazim Muneer | 11 years ago | Reply

Why not youtube.com.pk or youtube.pk, which may still remain with YouTube management, but the contents are those which are in compliance with the guidelines as per aspirations of the Government of Pakistan. It would be a go-between strategy without changing positions!

gp65 | 11 years ago | Reply @Usama: "What the first comment said about our nation is fairly true, but such opinions of the public can only be changed through mass media, YouTube included." What you say is quite true. But the actual role of the media has ben quite opposite - witness the role Meher Bokhari played in the Salman Taseer case. So the question is who will bell the cat? @ashar: "Then why didn’t the previous left wingers lifted the ban? This is something else my friend that you cannot understand." Salman Taseer tried to get a debate started on the flaws in implementation of the blasphemy law. But hate mongering media ultimately inflamed passions so much that he was killed by his own guard as was Bhatti. Sherri Rehman tried to to present a private member bill to address the gaps in the implementation of blasphemy law and just the act of trying to change the implementation of present law resulted in a case against her for blasphemy. So the left wing did try but in the end with hostile media and a radicalized polity on the issue, they just gave up.

ashar | 11 years ago | Reply

@whitesky: Then why didn't the previous left wingers lifted the ban? This is something else my friend that you cannot understand.

whitesky | 11 years ago | Reply

What led the editorial desk to think that the present government of right wing parties can dare i repeat dare to raise the matter of lifting the ban on you tube when the said video is still there

Usama | 11 years ago | Reply

It's not only about YouTube, it's about how ruthlessly our governments butcher the web. I come across tens of websites everyday, blocked for no apparent reason. The government's hold over the internet is dangerous. They can manipulate the only neutral media platform available in Pakistan. For example, for a few months of the PPP-led government, Dr. Allama Tahir ul-Qadri's Wikipedia page was very conveniently inaccessible in Pakistan. This goes to show how the IT ministry can use this horrendous tool of Internet censorship for the ruling party's own interests. We must stand up against unjustified bans on YouTube and other websites alike. What the first comment said about our nation is fairly true, but such opinions of the public can only be changed through mass media, YouTube included. The nation celebrating Salman Taseer's murder does not mean you push them back to the dark ages. It means you address them, educate them. A free and open world, depends on a free and open web.

lalai | 11 years ago | Reply

I hate the situation when someone tell me that I don't know what is wrong and what is right for me. Banning any information flow in this 21st century is like hiding the sun with bare hands. The sooner we learn it , the better we are.

gp65 | 11 years ago | Reply

How do you assume hat the 'people' want the ban reversed? Is it the same people who garlanded Mumtaz Qadri? Without squarely facing the issue of blasphemy, this conundrum cannot be resolved.

You cannot say it is Okay to burn a Christian colony and lock up Ahmadis for simply publishing their literature is acceptable in the name of blasphemy but being deprived of youtube is unacceptable.

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