Pakistan's Internet censorship

[mujahideen]

Pakistan orders Youtube blocked over cartoons

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan ordered local Internet service providers to block access to the popular Youtube Web site because of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that have outraged many Muslims, an industry official said on Sunday.

The cartoons, published in Danish newspapers in 2005 and again earlier this month, angered Muslims because of their depiction of the Prophet Mohammad.

"They asked us to ban it immediately ... and the order says the ban will continue until further notice," said Wahaj-us-Siraj, convener of the Association of Pakistan Internet Service Providers.

Publication of the cartoons led to protests and rioting in many Muslim countries, including Pakistan, in which at least 50 people were killed and three Danish embassies attacked.

Several Danish newspapers reprinted one of the cartoons earlier this month after police in Copenhagen uncovered a plot by two Tunisians and a Dane of Moroccan origin to kill the cartoonist, sparking further protests around the world.

Attempts to access Youtube in Islamabad on Sunday were met with a generic error message saying the site was unavailable.

"Users are quite upset. They're screaming at ISPs which can't do anything," Siraj said.

"The government has valid reason for that, but they have to find a better way of doing it. If we continue blocking popular Web sites, people will stop using the Internet."

 

[mujahideen]

Muslims can't leave the religion?

I dont think any religions allows you to leave it. Now what was being reffered to is in an Islamic government it is punishable to leave the Islamic religion. Now their are many who are Muslims in liveing in non-Muslim countries who convert.

 

[solid snake]

I dont think any religions allows you to leave it. Now what was being reffered to is in an Islamic government it is punishable to leave the Islamic religion. Now their are many who are Muslims in liveing in non-Muslim countries who convert.

I thought there was no compulsion in religion? Why force someone to stay a Muslim? He won't be a Muslim anyway in his heart so what's the point of punishing someone? you can't make someone believe in something by punishing them.

 

[solid snake]

Is youtube the only source one has to get all the benefits????

The material no matter objectionable or valuable will continue pouring.

And as we say im Urdu Shakr khoray ko shakar mil hee jati ha.

So its not the end of the world.

YouTube is one of the most popular websites on the internet. Blocking it is only hurting Pakistan. Now people across the border can upload propoganda against Pakistan and Pakistanis cannot upload videos of a Pakistani standpoint. This means Indians can upload bogus propoganda documentaries and news items, and we can't show the other side to the world.

How does anti-Islam stuff on YouTube hurt you? Just don't search for it and don't watch it, and you'll be fine. I don't understand what's so hard about that

 

[Mustapha]

Salaams,

There is no compulsion. However suppose someone is just "doing it" to be a rebel or be a traitor, thats what some people think; so they say traitors should be executed.

Allah Hafiz

 

[khanz]

I totally agree with solid snake now the anti-pakistan channels will have a free hand and people like me who depend on the pakistan based channels for pak vids will be left hung out to dry.I think This is ridiculous all political and nothing to do with religion or culture theres anti-islamic site everywhere and yet none of those have been blocked and also how come even saudi arabia or any other muslim countries haven't blocked it ? they may aswell ban google then too coz if u search islam your bound to get many anti-islam results there **** all over the net i'm sure even in pak so maybe we should just ban the whole internet ? Anyway the offending video has infact now been removed and PTA said they'd lift the ban once it's been removed so can someone plz contact and tell them to stick their words !
Youtube imo is a tool for knowledge theres many informative vids and documentaries,news and informative vlogs includings islam ones on there I can't believe some of you are so eager for blocking of the whole website for god's sake get a thicker skin ! why not just block the offensive pages instead ? and what about all the islamic videos like that ummahfilms guy ? pakistan military videos ? or the ones positively showcasing the country ? not to mention plenty of ones with pakistani history,music,news,talk shows,dramas and cricket related.
If u don't like it then don't go there nobody is forcing you to visit it .The good vids on there are far more than the negatives so don't ruin it for the whole country and force your version of islam or pakistani culture on all of us i'm a pakistani muslim too and i'm totally against this ban .
I really hope they lift it soon that siraj guy is really right in what he said

 

[asaad-ul-islam]

I thought there was no compulsion in religion? Why force someone to stay a Muslim? He won't be a Muslim anyway in his heart so what's the point of punishing someone? you can't make someone believe in something by punishing them.

that must be your interpretation. compulsion in religion is not a matter of staying in islam or not, it's a matter of forcing someone to practice the religion. for example, a person is muslim, but he doesn't pray at all. you can't force him to do it, but a little talk wouldn't hurt. this is what is meant in the ayah. also non-muslims, can't be forced into islam.
"He won't be a Muslim anyway in his heart", don't you think we know that? even if he calls himself a muslim, but doesn't have anything in his heart. I think you know what a munafiq or hypocrite is. many religions are tolerant, or at least supposed to be tolerant, but they do have their limits.

 

[asaad-ul-islam]

as for anti-islamic sites, i agree with solid snake, no one should be going on them anyway. however, i believe that was just an excuse for pakistan govt. from what i've heard, youtube had videos of polls being rigged(perhaps in countryside).

 

[mujahideen]

as for anti-islamic sites, i agree with solid snake, no one should be going on them anyway. however, i believe that was just an excuse for pakistan govt. from what i've heard, youtube had videos of polls being rigged(perhaps in countryside).

Well if no one is going to go on them why dont we just ban it all together. As far as the polls are concerned if they were rigged PML-Q would be in power.

 

[khanz]

as for anti-islamic sites, i agree with solid snake, no one should be going on them anyway. however, i believe that was just an excuse for pakistan govt. from what i've heard, youtube had videos of polls being rigged(perhaps in countryside).

exactly !
they don't like the free flow of information on a popular website so they just use islam as a lame excuse

 

[mujahideen]

exactly !
they don't like the free flow of information on a popular website so they just use islam as a lame excuse

If they didn't want free flow of information they wouldn't of had given us 50 independent news channels.

 

[mujahideen]

Pakistan 'sparks YouTube outage'

Pakistan's attempts to block access to YouTube has been blamed for an almost global blackout of the video website for more than an hour on Sunday.
BBC News has learned that the outage was almost certainly connected to Pakistan Telecom and Asian internet service provider PCCW.

A leading net professional said the global outage was "probably a mistake".

Pakistan ordered internet service providers to block the site because of content deemed offensive to Islam.

The BBC News website's technology editor, Darren Waters, says that to block Pakistan's citizens from accessing YouTube it is believed Pakistan Telecom "hijacked" the web server address of the popular video site.

Those details were then passed on to the country's internet service providers so that anyone in Pakistan attempting to go to YouTube was instead re-directed to a different address.

But the details of the "hijack" were leaked out into the wider internet from PCCW and as a result YouTube was mistakenly blocked by internet service providers around the word

The block on the servers was lifted once PCCW had been told of the issue by engineers at YouTube.

A leading net professional told BBC News: "This was probably a simple mistake by an engineer at Pakistan Telecom. There's nothing to suggest this was malicious."

IP hijacking involves taking over a web site's unique address by corrupting the internet's routing tables, which direct the flow of data around the world.

No-one at YouTube or PCCW was immediately available for comment.

Cause of ban

Reports said Pakistan made the move because YouTube content included Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad that have outraged many.

But one report said a trailer for a forthcoming film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, which portrays Islam in a negative light, was behind the ban.

"They [Pakistan's telecommunications authority] asked us to ban it immediately... and the order says the ban will continue until further notice," said Wahaj-us-Siraj, convener of the Association of Pakistan Internet Service Providers.

The government decision has caused uproar in Pakistan, according to Wahaj-us-Siraj:

"Users are quite upset. They're screaming at ISPs which can't do anything.

"The government has valid reason for that, but they have to find a better way of doing it. If we continue blocking popular websites, people will stop using the internet."

Other countries that have temporarily blocked access to YouTube include Turkey and Thailand.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Pakistan 'sparks YouTube outage'

 

[solid snake]

Pakistan will now become the laughing stock of the whole world. I could not get on YouTube for a long time today.

There will be 10 times as many anti-Islam videos uploaded after people hear about this attempt to ban YouTube in pakistan.

 

[mujahideen]

Pakistan will now become the laughing stock of the whole world. I could not get on YouTube for a long time today.

There will be 10 times as many anti-Islam videos uploaded after people hear about this attempt to ban YouTube in pakistan.

Oh please. Censorship happens every where. The people who want to upload anti-Pakistan or anti-Islamic videos will do so regardless of what happens. For example if I decide to upload anti-India video(Dont worry this is jsut an example I dont mean to offended anyone) I will do so no matter what happens. Their are a lot of ways to spread propaganda this is just one of them.

 

[asaad-ul-islam]

the problem with pakistan is that it gives a freedom and then blocks it, taking it completely away. for example, free media was given and then blocked. this makes the govt. look really stupid. pakistani people just can't handle free media. they never should allow this stuff if it will come back to bite them in the face. from what i've heard china has control over sites from the beginning.