Islamabad: Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that government has decided to reopen YouTube in Pakistan but only after access to anti-Islamic content has been restricted.
Pakistan had blocked YouTube after a short clip from an amatureishly made film insulting Islam rose to world wide prominence. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) acting on orders of the Supreme Court, started blocking links carrying the video. However, innumerable instances of the video being uploaded on YouTube largely nullified PTA’s attempts.
The government then requested Google to block the clip from being accessed from Pakistan, but the internet giant refused to comply saying they did not have localised services in Pakistan, which would allow location based blocking.
The government then finally imposed a blanket block on YouTube on September 17, 2012, to restrict access to the video.
گستاخانہ موادہٹاکریوٹیوب کھول دینگے،وزیرداخلہ رحمان ملک
— Geo News Urdu (@geonews_urdu) November 8, 2012
یوٹیوب کوکھولنےکافیصلہ کرلیاہے،وزیرداخلہ رحمان ملک
— Geo News Urdu (@geonews_urdu) November 8, 2012
