IT Minister plans to ban 'objectionable content' across entire internet
YouTube to be unblocked once Internet is free of unwanted content.
YouTube has been banned in Pakistan since September 2012. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rehman said on Monday that efforts were being made to develop a software for removing objectionable content from across the internet so that the ban on YouTube could be lifted.
Talking to the press in Islamabad, Rehman said that the ban on the video-sharing website would be lifted once all objectionable content on YouTube is blocked, along with all objectionable content worldwide.
"Over 2,700 objectionable websites have already been blocked," she added.
Rehman explained that the task of filtering objectionable content was difficult as it involved manually blocking every website, adding that there was a need for a software that could block such content automatically.
She added that Google was not cooperating with Pakistan in the matter. The minister said that there was no particular timeline for the YouTube ban being lifted.
She said that YouTube was blocked on the orders of the Supreme Court, and the decision to lift the ban would be taken by the Inter-Ministerial Committee which was being given technical assistance by the Information Ministry.
The site was blocked across Pakistan on September 17, 2012, in response to protests against a video titled "Innocence of Muslims".
______________________________________________________________
[poll id="1189"]
Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rehman said on Monday that efforts were being made to develop a software for removing objectionable content from across the internet so that the ban on YouTube could be lifted.
Talking to the press in Islamabad, Rehman said that the ban on the video-sharing website would be lifted once all objectionable content on YouTube is blocked, along with all objectionable content worldwide.
"Over 2,700 objectionable websites have already been blocked," she added.
Rehman explained that the task of filtering objectionable content was difficult as it involved manually blocking every website, adding that there was a need for a software that could block such content automatically.
She added that Google was not cooperating with Pakistan in the matter. The minister said that there was no particular timeline for the YouTube ban being lifted.
She said that YouTube was blocked on the orders of the Supreme Court, and the decision to lift the ban would be taken by the Inter-Ministerial Committee which was being given technical assistance by the Information Ministry.
The site was blocked across Pakistan on September 17, 2012, in response to protests against a video titled "Innocence of Muslims".
______________________________________________________________
[poll id="1189"]