YouTube ban to be lifted soon

E-Paper | March 09, 2026

LAHORE: Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid said here on Sunday that the ban on YouTube would be lifted soon because a software had been developed for blocking content that hurt people’s sentiments.

The video sharing website was blocked in September 2012 after its administration and Google Incorporation refused to comply with a request by Pakistan and some other Muslim countries to remove a blasphemous video from the site.

About the demand for checking broadcast of foreign content by some private TV channels, Mr Rashid asked civil society, owners of media houses and professionals to come up with proposals for resolving the issue because any step taken by the government could be construed as an attempt to gag the media.

He said that he feared that discretionary powers could open the door to misuse of authority by officials.

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Jalaluddin S. Hussain

Mar 17, 2014 08:25am

What is that "software"? How will it work? Can the Pakistani Information Minister, Mr. Pervez Rashid please clarify? Thanks!

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Haroon

Mar 17, 2014 08:44am

"When God made the poison He also created the cure". So with the conviction of my heart let me say "God bless proxy servers". Mr. Minister your actions or rather lack thereof, are therefore inconsequential.

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Rabia

Mar 17, 2014 09:24am

If software has been created that can 'block software that hurts people's sentiments' it has to be an all time first in the entire history of the world that something/anything can do that. I never heard of bigger rubbish in my life. We need to learn to control our 'sentiments' and those who cannot must be taught to do so.

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janan

Mar 17, 2014 10:09am

They don't have the capacity to developed anything inhouse...they acquired URL filtering solution which will be deployed on country internet edges.

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janan

Mar 17, 2014 10:11am

How soon Mr. Ministry? very soon or soon in the future+?

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Osama Mir

Mar 17, 2014 11:11am

I think that software will be governed by PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority).

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Ihsan

Mar 17, 2014 01:35pm

@Jalaluddin S. Hussain: What possible purpose the software is to serve. I believe blocking videos that show their own true faces.

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Anoop

Mar 17, 2014 02:02pm

Thats even worse. Developing infrastructure to control content. One click is all it takes to render anything considered obscene inaccessible. The threshold will keep increasing in the Islamic Republic. In a couple of years, I am sure all Bollywood content will be blocked in the name of Pakistani culture.

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Subhan

Mar 18, 2014 06:38am

@Anoop: Well I don't mind if they block bollywood content because it actually is affecting our culture. I was recently watching news on our national television channel. The anchors were using hindi words sometimes. Taking influence from some country's culture is actually a big thing. When you do that, you subconsciously become a "follower" and make the the other country and its culture the "leader".

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Mudassir

Mar 19, 2014 02:12pm

> He said that he feared that discretionary powers could open the door to misuse of authority by officials. The irony of this statement is so strong, it can power Karachi for 30 days.

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