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?
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.
Pakistan ‘sparks YouTube outage’
Pakistan’s attempts to block access to YouTube have been blamed for an almost global blackout of the video website for more than an hour on Sunday.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7262071.stm
you tube is currently blocked worldwide every or almost every isp has been forced to block you tube but that didn’t stop me from finding a way around but the thing is, is that firstly i don’t trust anyone not to report what i have found and secondly the speed is greatly reduced so deal with it.
azarous
p.s. you may be able to find a way around by searching for proxy servers that link to youtube good luck and lol
LOL
and not blocking the million websites of porn and other blogs is ok with PEMRA.
Pakistani authorities are “lakeer kay fakeer”
They banned it according to this story.
I’m using GoCDMA.
YouTube is NOT blocked. I can see everything.
Of course, the speed of my connection is such that I can’t see the video live… have to download it… but I repeat:
YouTube is NOT blocked in Pakistan.