YouTube Blocked in Pakistan. Why?

Posted on February 22, 2008
Filed Under >Adil Najam, Law & Justice, Politics, Science and Technology
81 Comments
Total Views: 79914

Adil Najam

It seems that YouTube is down in Pakistan. Possibly it is blocked.

Blocking websites is a rather bad habit that the government authorities in Pakistan have gotten into (here and here). This is something that we have written about before. It is silly habit, because technologically it does not work. But, much more importantly, it is a disturbing habit because it points towards a desire by those in authority to “control” the passions of the public. Democracy demands the very opposite – that the people control teh passions of those in power.

But the real question is, that if YouTube is blocked, then why?



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There would be those who could imagine that it is because all of the mujras, soft porn and supposedly “sexy” and indecent material that might be “corrupting” Pakistani minds – not that the Pakistani or any human mind really needs YouTube to further “corrupt” our sensibilities!

But this time, the general opinion is that th ban is more “political” than “cultural”. A large number of videos with actual footages of electoral rigging were placed on YouTube and the view is that the “ban” or the “technical difficulties” that have come up are really a way to distract attention in Pakistan away from these videos, at least for the time being.

Here, for example, are two of the video … its being recorded secretly, so you will need to turn up the volume and listen carefully.

NOTE: The original videos we have posted were later removed from YouTube, these are the same videos but re-posted on YouTube later:

A number of other videos of such rigging have since been removed and one cannot be sure how long these will last. Given that this is YouTube, one should also put in a caveat that even though these look quite legit one can never be sure if these are propaganda or counter-propaganda instruments that are staged themselves. Of course some of this is all still in the realm of speculation, and we ask our readers to exercise due caution in the use and interpretation of all this.

The ban – if, indeed, it s not a technical hitch, may or may not be because of the videos. Even if it is not, it is despicable for the same reason previous bans were. And even if it is not, the videos themselves are despicable for all the obvious reasons. All of this will, of course, become all the more despicable if, indeed, there is a real ban or other government interference in this and it is because of these videos.

81 responses to “YouTube Blocked in Pakistan. Why?”

  1. The above mentioned video in the post has been removed “due to terms of use violation.”

    You can also confirm this via: http://www.sticklive.com or http://www.youhide.com

    Thank you Google & YouTube team!

  2. Gill says:

    YouTube is still down for me as of 1pm 24/2. I am on Wateen WiMax in Karachi.

  3. Chris says:

    @ARBAB: YouTube was blocking Pakistan? *lol Sorry, in the western world we have the freedom of speech and everyone is welcome to post what he wants ( as you see in youtube etc.).If they would realy block Pakistan, you would not get this error Message surfing on YouTube: ” Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (www.pta.gov.pk) has directed all ISPs of the country to block access to http://www.youtube.com web site for containing blasphemous web content/movies. ” No Propaganda please!

  4. Chris says:

    @Fawad Khan: Friends in Pakistan can’t reach YouTube since some days. Here in Europe there is no problem to get access. The Message in PK is: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (www.pta.gov.pk) has directed all ISPs of the country to block access to http://www.youtube.com web site for containing blasphemous web content/movies.

  5. ARBAB says:

    So, it is now clear that You Tube was blocked in Pakistan for a day and is now open again. I am still not sure why this was done?

    Was it really because of the videos showing the rigging by MQM? Is it because now they have been removed and so the block has been removed?

    I also wonder who had put the block on? Was it MQM?>

    Odd thing is that without the block very few people would have seen the vidoes, but now everyone has.

    Just shows again that our INTELIGENCE agencies are not very intelligent!

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