YouTube to Remain Blocked in Pakistan 'Indefinitely': Officials

Advertisement
By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 9 February 2015 10:58 IST
YouTube will remain blocked in Pakistan 'indefinitely', an official said Saturday, as experts have failed to find a way to filter content deemed offensive and blasphemous in the Muslim majority country.

The video-sharing website has been blocked in Pakistan since September 2012 over its hosting of the "Innocence of Muslims" movie that sparked furious protests around the world.

The Supreme Court ruled at the time that the site should be banned until a way was found to block all so-called blasphemous content.

Advertisement

"(The) matter was reviewed several times but the situation effectively remains the same," the minister for information technology and telecommunication Anusha Rehman told the Senate Friday.

"The government does not want to take any chance and wants to make sure that after the unblocking YouTube, no offensive content remains viewable in Pakistan," a senior government official told AFP.

Advertisement

"So far no tool or solution has been found which can totally block offensive content, that is why YouTube remains blocked and it will remain so indefinitely," the official said.

Blasphemy is a contentious issue in Pakistan and the country has seen violent riots sparked by content deemed offensive to Islam, including the "survivors" edition of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that had a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed on its front cover.

Advertisement

Free speech campaigners in Pakistan have long complained of creeping censorship in the name of protecting religion or preventing obscenity, and have described the ban on YouTube as a violation of civil rights.

In November 2011 the telecommunications authority tried to ban nearly 1,700 "obscene" words from text messages, which included innocuous terms such as "lotion", "athlete's foot" and "idiot".

Advertisement

In 2010 Pakistan shut down Facebook for nearly two weeks over its hosting of allegedly blasphemous pages. It continues to restrict thousands of online links.

 

Get your daily dose of tech news, reviews, and insights, in under 80 characters on Gadgets 360 Turbo. Connect with fellow tech lovers on our Forum. Follow us on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News for instant updates. Catch all the action on our YouTube channel.

Further reading: Internet, YouTube
Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. GTA 6: An Extended Look Debuts on Netflix Today: How to Watch, What to Expect
  2. Crimson Desert's New 'Enhanced' Update Attemps to Fix the Game's Story
  3. These Are the Best One-Time Investment Laser Printers in India
  4. Realme C100i With a 6,500mAh Battery Debuts in India at This Price
  5. OnePlus 16 Display Tipped to Offer Ultra-Thin Four-Sided Bezels
  6. Realme P4 Power, P4 Lite Prices Hiked in India by Up to Rs. 3,000
  1. Vivo X500 Pro Max Display Details Officially Teased Ahead of Launch
  2. Apple Maps Gets Transit Support in India With Public Transport Directions and More
  3. Google Is Changing How You Sign In to Android Apps
  4. Sneaky Sasquatch Gets Subway Surfers+ Crossover, Birdwatching Update on Apple Arcade
  5. YouTube Adds Amazon Product Tags to Shorts, Videos and Livestreams
  6. Poco X8 5G and X8 Power 5G India Launch Date Set for September 4
  7. Acer Swift Neo 14 Refreshed in India With Up to Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU: Price, Features
  8. Samsung Odyssey G Series Gaming Monitors Unveiled at Gamescom 2026 With Curved OLED, 1,100Hz Panel
  9. Google's AI Mode Can Now Track Flight Prices and Book Hotels for You
  10. Google Unveils Gemini Omni 1.1 Flash With 4K Video and 40-Second Extension Support
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2026. All rights reserved.