With occasional statements by government officials to review ban on world’s top video-sharing website, it’s been 1,000 days today since YouTube was banned in Pakistan. The video-sharing website was blocked in the country on September 17, 2012 over blasphemous material, which sparked furious protests around the world. The ban remains in place till date.In its verdict at the time of ban, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled that the site should be banned until a way was found to block all blasphemous content. Earlier in February this year, the minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Anusha Rehman had told the Senate that YouTube matter was reviewed numerous times, but it could not be progressed further.She had told the Upper House government doesn’t want to take any chance and wants to make sure no offensive or sacrilegious content remains viewable to Pakistani users on YouTube. On May 6 last year, the National Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution to lift the blockade; and on Tuesday, the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology also directed that YouTube be unblocked. Will this be enough to see the ban lifted? Citizens are justifiably wondering what it will take, or at what level a consensus could be reached, to reverse one of the most ridiculous bans slapped by the state?It is an open secret that the blockade is pointless, given that there are several methods through which the ban can and is being bypassed.Indeed, submitting the resolution last year to the National Assembly, MNA Shazia Marri noted that people were using proxy servers. Are we to understand, then, that the ban remains because its lobby group has fallen silent? The government needs to own up to the fact that open access to the internet, especially those sites that are used for research and educational purposes, is the citizenry’s right.It will never be possible to entirely control the flow of online content, and the attempt to do so is futile. A much better route would be to educate the populace on surfing safely.
pk.shafaqna.com
