Share this story!            

People denounce ban on YouTube

* Say it was a source of income for some
* Believe there were other ways to address the blasphemy issue

By Nadia Usman

LAHORE: There has been a strong reaction over the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) directive to all the Pakistan’s Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block an internet website, YouTube.

It has been learnt that the step had been taken on account of the availability of a blasphemous Dutch film, videos regarding rigging during the polls, and anti-Musharraf material on the site. Although people belonging to all walks of life have condemned the blasphemous act, the majority has criticised the government’s way of ‘dealing with’ the issue.

Human rights activist Nighat Saeed Khan told DailyTimes that any act of blasphemy against any religion was condemnable, but the government had no right to ban the entire website. “I think the government should have complained to the YouTube website staff instead of blocking it,” she said.

She recalled that there had been many incidents in the past when people had lodged their complaints with the said website and the authorities took appropriate action.

Nighat said there had been a lot of anti-Musharraf, anti- Inter-Services Intelligence and election-rigging contents on the website, and the government’s action suggested that the site might have been blocked due to political reasons.

Fahim Younis, a customer service official at Cybernet – a popular ISP – told Daily Times that the ban on the website had no severe effect on the business of the ISPs.

He said the government should have requested the website concerned to delete the contents, as many people who used it to earn money had been affected by the ban.

Fawad Rizvi, a media professional, said the site was a source of income for him. “If the step has been taken purely for registering a protest against the blasphemous contents, then I fully support the government, regardless of the fact that it is affecting my business,” he said.

“There should be a policy on the part of the YouTube staff to make sure that blasphemous contents cannot be uploaded on to the site.” Rana Atif, a banker, said half of his family was living abroad, and they had been using YouTube to share video clips with each other to remain in contact, as it was the most reliable website.

Ahsan Javed, a student at the Government College University, alleged, “This certainly is not due to blasphemous material on the website. It is because of all those election videos that showed what kind of free and fair elections Pakistan was conducting. You can find blasphemous contents all over the Internet. YouTube videos of the All Parties Democratic Movement’s February 16 rally and those against President Pervez Musharraf were relevant to the action taken by the government.”

PTA spokesman Khurram Mehran, when contacted for comments, told DailyTimes to consult the PTA’s official website for its version.

The site quotes: The PTA believes that the said footage absolutely stands against the values of religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence arousing deep anguish and distress across the Muslim world. Had not this highly profane and sacrilegious footage been banned, it had the potential to cause more unrest and possible loss of life and property across the country.

Home | Lahore

Share this story!