Pakistan Blocks YouTube

Anti-Islamic Content Cited By Government For Blocking Video Sharing Service

(AP)  Pakistan's government has banned access to the video-sharing Web site YouTube because of anti-Islamic movies that users have posted on the site, an official said Sunday.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority told the country's 70 Internet service providers Friday that the popular Web site would be blocked until further notice.

The authority did not specify what the offensive material was, but a PTA official said the ban concerned a movie trailer for an upcoming film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, who has said he plans to release an anti-Quran movie portraying the religion as fascist and prone to inciting violence against women and homosexuals.

The PTA official, who asked not to be identified because he was not an official spokesman, said the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority also blocks Web sites that show controversial drawings of the Prophet Muhammad. The drawings were originally printed in European newspapers in 2006 and were reprinted by some papers last week.

The PTA urged Web users to write to YouTube and request the removal of the objectionable movies, saying authorities would stop blocking the site once that happened.

Pakistan is not the only country to have blocked access to YouTube.

In January, a court in Turkey blocked the site because some video clips allegedly insulted the country's founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. It is illegal to insult Ataturk in Turkey.

Last spring the Thai government banned the site for about four months because of clips seen as offensive to Thailand's revered monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Moroccans last year were unable to access YouTube after users posted videos critical of Morocco's treatment of the people of Western Sahara, a territory Morocco took control of in 1975.

[rowdytexan2]

Democracy abounds...

[fibonacci_]

Imagine if someone published a book of pictures of Mohammed. Including with his 7 year old wife.

[irliberal]

I''m amazed that the US considers Pakistan to be an ally.

[robindallas-2009]

I would bet that the blocking of youtube.com is more about the availability of the videos of Bhutto''s assassination. Free flow of information to the masses is a problem for corrupt governments.

[irliberal]

Pakistan is a theocracy, not a democracy. And a theocracy is even worse than a dictatorship.

[rowdytexan2]

Yes, Pakistan is a theocracy, just like the whole of the Middle East. Trying to force democracy on their people is WRONG, when it''s not what they want, and have no intention of living in a western style democracy.

Give them their countries back and let them live in it the way they want to!

[gnrking]

What is the world comming to? If they dont like what they see then dont look!
What about when they burn the English And American flag, dont they think that that is offensive? If we burn their flag they would go mental and call us racist and everything. If they cant take it dont dish it out.
If i saw a cartoon of jesus or a christian figure i would not be in the slightest bit offended.
They seem to have problems..

[stezzer]

Why are Islamic leaders so afraid of freedom? If Islam was great you wouldn''t need to stop people seeing "anti-Islamic" material.

Just like Communist leaders, Islamic leaders stifle human freedom because they''re afraid it will destroy them.

[meietv]

Well here is some others providers who replace youtube.
Please visit http://www.meietv.pk

[libsrc0kskrs]

".........Trying to force democracy on their people is WRONG, when it''''s not what they want, and have no intention of living in a western style democracy........"

Give them their countries back and let them live in it the way they want to!

Posted by RowdyTexan2 at 02:58 PM : Feb 24, 2008
+ report abuse

sounds like a liberal squirming over facts again..with people like you around..racism..terrorism..criminals..would have a thrive..

[libsrc0kskrs]

Imagine if someone published a book of pictures of Mohammed. Including with his 7 year old wife.

Posted by fibonacci_ at 01:15 PM : Feb 24, 2008
+ report abuse

***********

i IMAGINE it will never come from an american liberal source..

[unclebeing]

Where is my youtube? I have not done anything to offend Pakistan or it''s people and I don''t approve of racism. I do believe in freedom of speech tho so why are they meddling with my entertainment? This is ridiculous!!!

[abbe91]

"I''m amazed that the US considers Pakistan to be an ally.
Posted by IRLiberal at 01:23 PM : Feb 24, 2008"

Iraq was an ally in 1983 (famous pictures of Rumsfeld).
Still, when it was time for it, we found a reason to invade it. All these reasons apply, more twice than once, to Pakistan : "Al Qaeda harboring place", weapons of mass destruction, nuclear proliferation, ... but guess what ? the next target is Iran ...

[meietv]

Pakistanin alternativ youtube
a href="http://www.meietv.pk" target="_blank" http://www.meietv.pk /a

[rowdytexan2]

Posted by libsrc0kskrs at 03:37 PM : Feb 24, 2008

Oh, are you another boogieman chaser too? If you are, look to our house for the boogieman first.

[cbs_oliver]

Wow. Poor You Tube. They can''t offend the Christians here and in Europe and they can''t offends the Jews in Israel, and they can''t offend the Muslims in Pakistan and they can''t offend .............!

But offensive people can take heart.

There is always someplace where the local folks are happy to see material offensive to people from someplace else!

[likeitis5050]

These idiots are like the 10 month old child that sits in the middle of the room with his hands over his eyes and believes he is hiding from everyone....stuuuuuuuuuuuupid. Islam is being outted and they think if they deprive their population of this fact, then Islam is safe. Peaceful and non-threatening NOT!!!

[kevboom]

The first sign of a corrupt government--one that can''t stand the test of free speech. Afraid your people are going to see something they like better than the fear you''ve been selling?

[caliengineer]

It is true that America will fall. But, Islam will be a minor tool in Satan''s army. Russia, China and Japan along with Cuba, Byelorussia and Kazakhstan will attack. Mexico will be a traitor.
americaslastdays
nextcrusade
handofhelp
guidetojesus
These are all dot com web sites.

[lloydbest1]

Oh, I long for the days when it was just the commies under the beds and in the closets.......

Pakistan is a democrady; no? Pervez says it is, anyway. If that''s the case then sometimes the government is going to have to tolerate stuff it may not necessarily want to hear. So the movie trailer was offensive. Censoring Wilder''s film, or even the trailer from the public will only give it a cachet of legitimacy it might not deserve. You know what they say about forbidden fruit.
Here''s what Pakistan should have done....
Instead of closing off Youtube, simply film a rebuttal. Make it entertaining, if they feel it''s necessary, but factual. Then advertise the h*ll out of it. Bet it would have gotten a lot more hits than some teaser filmed by an unknown 6000 miles away.
TomFlint69 at 04:13 PM, I don''t think ROBinDALLAS thought any such thing. Anyone with a grasp of current events also knows the Bhutto''s weren''t distinguished by their squeaky clean rep for honesty and transparency. In fact Benazir (God or whomever rest her soul) could teach our own Disaster in the White House a thing or two about chicanery. But I will say the Musharef would be a lot happier if the assasination videos weren''t made public, either.

[toolmangler-2009]

The first sign of a corrupt government--one that can''''t stand the test of free speech. Afraid your people are going to see something they like better than the fear you''''ve been selling?

Posted by kevboom at 05:19 PM : Feb 24, 2008



I agree, If you look at any opressive government, one of the first thing to dissapear is free speech and dissent. All other losses of liberty occur in silence afterward. The same thing is being foisted on us in the ''Telcom'' non-liability laws that Bushit is pushing through congress at this very moment, (smoke filled room never close to business). This Person who occupies the office of P*O*T*U*S should be taken before the congress of the US and impeached out of office then tried for war crimes in our (restored) court system.

[wonderyman-2009]

There is not a single predominantly Islamic state with true freedom of speech and expression.
Were it not for oil, all Islamic states would be total f*ck ups - in every respect - economy-, intellectual-, science- and technology-wise.
Because of oil, a few Islamic states are not backward as goes for economy, but sadly in the remaining conditions.
Any news on the Afghan journalist condemned to death for downloading some doctrine-critical text?
Or the Saudi woman condemned to death for "witchcraft"?

[kaly1984]

Really?
hard to believe.i heard this news times from many friends playing on a tall dating site~~~~Tallmingle.com~~~,i did not believe, i think that they are know nothing but dating and love.
i am wrong.
~~~~~~Selina1987,as a model playing that site,hope to know you.

[ontheleft]

terrorislam0, I can''t wait until Obama becomes president. He is going to personally waterboard you until you are converted to Islam. Allah is great!!

[mediapreachr]

Worry not my friends,plans are drawn up right now to take over this sorry as* caliphate,and transform it in another satrapy(check Google for that word).
You can bet Youtube was banned,not because they were showing some random mass of sheep running around looking for leaders(exactly as the paks are now)-most likely some fan of indian music posted a video of a singer showing some leg.

[watcher269-2009]

Next the Republicans will want to block You Tube in America for the same reasons!

After all - the Pakies and the Republicans are Religious Fanatics!

[sarah-jayne-2009]

islam is sexiest and a wasteof time it should not be aloud to even be anywhere in the world, the fact that pakistan has taken this action shows that they are hiding something and are brainwashing their people into beleving that islam is good when it is a waste of time

[misterugly]

I think that it might have been my video Tommy Bin Laden that caused the ruckus. I completed it this Saturday and posted it right away. It''s supposed to be a parody of Osama, but in the tags I also put Pakistan as one of the lookups. The timing of my post and their ban seems awfully coincidental. This is the video (still up as of now) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka0S1bBWEHc