ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution to lift the ban on video-sharing website YouTube, DawnNews reported.

During today's National Assembly session, chaired by Deputy Speaker Murtaza Javed Abbasi, MNA Shazia Marri belonging to the Pakistan People Party (PPP) submitted a resolution demanding the lifting of the ban on YouTube which was unanimously accepted by the lower house of parliament.

Ms Marri had said that the government should lift ban on YouTube as soon as possible.

She added that people were using proxy servers to watch YouTube while the government should not adopt any double standards in this regard.

In response to the resolution, Minister of State for Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, Saira Afzal Tarar, assured the house that the government would lift the ban on YouTube soon.

Tarar said that it was the collective responsibility of all the parties to discuss the matter in detail and requested that the leaders of the parliamentary parties should suggest the names of the members from their parties to take part in the discussions in this regard.

The video-sharing website has been blocked in Pakistan since September 2012 when the then prime minister belonging to the PPP ordered its shutdown over its failure to take down the “Innocence of Muslims” movie that sparked furious protests around the world.

Despite the removal of the contentious video and claims by the government, the video-sharing remains banned in the country.

— Irfan Haider contributed to the reporting of this story