Pakistan blocks 20,000 sites in wake of anti-Islam vid
YouTube just the start for anxious censors
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Pakistani authorities have revealed that a whopping 20,000 web sites have been taken offline as part of a nationwide crackdown on “objectionable” content.
The purge took places as part of government efforts across the Muslim world in the wake of widespread anger at “Innocence of Muslims” – a film ridiculing the Prophet Muhammed which was subsequently uploaded to Google’s popular video-sharing site.
Google refused to take the video down, claiming it remained within YouTube guidelines, however it bowed to pressure from governments in various countries such as Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt by restricting access according to local laws.
However, in Pakistan, Bangladesh and elsewhere, governments were forced to take matters into their own hands and block YouTube.
It has now been revealed that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has gone even further, blocking tens of thousands of sites.
It seems this is partly in response to pressure from the courts, after the PTA chairman was personally cited in a case in Lahore as responsible for blocking all footage of the controversial film on the web, PTI reported.
Things don’t look good for Google in the near future either.
"The ban on YouTube will continue as long as it does not remove the blasphemous film. Pakistan can take no chances on lifting the ban as people are not ready to accept this film," a PTA official told PTI.
If such censorship restrictions persist, it could harm the web giant’s ambitious plans to tap what has already become a $500m market.
NGO Freedom House said Pakistan registered one of the steepest declines in internet freedom over the past year, despite apparently shelving any immediate plans to build a China-like nationwide firewall.
“Pakistan’s downgrade reflected extreme punishments meted out for dissemination of allegedly blasphemous messages and the increasingly aggressive efforts of the telecom regulator to censor content transmitted via information and communications technologies (ICTs),” the report said. ®
COMMENTS
To normal thinking people the video is ridiculous, a Life of Brian spoof but to these uneducated masses stirred up by people with an agenda against the West it has become a matter of life and death. Most of the protesters don't even have access to the web.
When you consider how enlightened Islam once was and then it's decent into Medievalism it just beggars belief. The extremists put their own twist and interpretation onto the Koran and call themselves Scholars, which in itself is an insult to education. Opinions are not allowed if they in anyway conflict with the extreme views.
The banning of access is not just about religion, it is more than that, it is about control and power.
Thankfully the West is more enlightened and we have come a long way since the Salem Witch Trials and the Inquisition and the fight against Heretics in the 12 Century.
To quote Bart Simpson and his blackboard....
"I will not laugh when they say Islam is a religion of peace"
"I will not laugh when they say Islam is a religion of peace"
"I will not laugh when they say Islam is a religion of peace"
"I will not laugh when they say Islam is a religion of peace"
"I will not laugh when they say Islam is a religion of peace"
"I will not laugh when they say Islam is a religion of peace"
"I will not laugh when they say Islam is a religion of peace"
"Thankfully the West is more enlightened"
Have you heard of the US educational publisher, A Beka Book? They're selling to some "schools" in the UK these days. How about Paul Broun? He's on a science and technology panel in Congress, you know.
Just two recent examples for you. I could go on, but frankly the whole thing is depressing. Medieval religion and persecution of heretics is popular everywhere; there's no Islamist monopoly.
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