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Pakistan blocks YouTube and Wikipedia after Facebook
The Pakistani government blocked access to YouTube on Thursday because of “sacrilegious” content on the video-sharing website, signaling a growing Internet crackdown against sites deemed offensive to the country’s majority Muslim population.
The move against YouTube came a day after the government blocked access to Facebook amid anger over a page on the social networking site that encourages users to post images of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. The page sparked criticism because Islam prohibits any images of the prophet.
The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority did not point to specific material on YouTube that prompted it to block the site, only citing “growing sacrilegious contents.” The government took action against both Facebook and YouTube after it failed to persuade the websites to remove the “derogatory material,” the regulatory body said in a statement.
It welcomed representatives from the two websites to contact the Pakistani government to resolve the dispute in a way that “ensures religious harmony and respect.”
The regulatory body said it has blocked more than 450 Internet links containing offensive material, but it is unclear how many of the links were blocked in the last two days. Access to the online encyclopedia site Wikipedia and the photo sharing site Flickr also was restricted Thursday.
The government blocked Facebook on Wednesday after a group of Islamic lawyers won a court order requiring officials to restrict access to the site until May 31. It was unclear if the ban against YouTube would also be temporary.
Dozens of members of the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, protested in Islamabad for a second day running, calling for a permanent boycott of Facebook and supporting a government ban of the website. The protestors originally planned to march on the US embassy, but riot police armed with shields and batons prevented the crowd from moving towards the heavily guarded diplomatic enclave and they dispersed.
Several hundred students also demonstrated in the central city of Multan, where they set alight a US flag and temporarily blocked a road, calling for a blanket ban on Facebook before dispersing peacefully.
Social and religious organisations, students, journalists and NGOs in Sialkot also announced to observe Friday as a Protest Day against Facebook for publishing blasphemous caricatures against the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
They also called for protest rallies to be held in various parts of the city, seeking a permanent ban on Facebook in Pakistan by the government.
Protests have been taking place across the country to condemn the hosting of offensive caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) on Facebook. To view pictures of the anti-Facebook protests
