Why was it banned in 2012?
Pakistan unblocked popular video sharing website YouTube on 18thJanuary, 2015 after 3 years. Pakistan Telecom Regulator has lifted the ban on YouTube after signing agreements with Google after which the company launched a Pakistan specific version of YouTube in the country. This version of YouTube will not have any offensive material and if anything is found, it will be taken down after requests made by the Pakistani government.
According to BBC report, Google has provided an online web portal where the search engine will take in requests by the PTA to block access of offending material. After reviewing, the material will be banned for users in Pakistan.
Such requests made by the government will be recorded in YouTube's transparency report.
The Pakistanis cheered the government's decision but some demand transparency of the deal.
Why was it banned in 2012?
YouTube was banned in the country in 2012 when an American film 'Innocence of Muslims' was uploaded. The video was highly condemned in the Muslim world for mocking Prophet Muhammad and portraying in bad light. This was termed as blasphemy, which is a punishable offence in Pakistan. This video sparked widespread protests killing more than a dozen people. Pakistanis marched to the US Consulate in Karachi, pelted stones and set fire to vehicles.
Following the protests back in 2012, the Supreme Court summoned the chairman of the PTA and asked him to block access to all sacrilegious material. After banning YouTube, the government had announced a national holiday with the name 'Youm-e-Ishq-e-Rasool' which means 'A day for the love of the holy Prophet'.
Later, Google blocked the trailer for 'Innocence of Muslims' in India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Singapore, Russia and Turkey after the governments requested the removal of the video from YouTube.
Post the ban, internet users across Pakistan continued to bypass the ban and access YouTube through proxy servers. According to the NewYorker, the ban was affecting students, musicians and entrepreneurs of Pakistan who relied on YouTube for work and were suffering due to the decline in internet traffic.
In early 2013, the site was unblocked for a few hours after which it was blocked again.
Other countries where YouTube is banned:
YouTube is completely banned in China and Iran and in Saudi Arabia the state filters pornographic and other immoral content. According to the NewYorker, the site was completely blocked in Turkey between 2007 and 2010 for posting videos that 'insulted Turkishness' and the country's founder Kemal Ataturk.
Source : articlesbase.com
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