KARACHI: The latest reports reveal that the Pakistani government remains adamant on maintaining the ban on YouTube until the video-sharing platform removes the controversial anti-Islam film that sparked anger among Muslims throughout the world last September.
Earlier this year, Rehman Malik promised to get the ban lifted. But now, media outlets of the country claim the Information Technology Ministry is in touch with YouTube owner Google these days to reach an agreement. Reportedly, a spokesperson of the Ministry claims that they have asked Google officials to at least block the movie in Pakistan, even if they cannot take it off the site altogether.
YouTube has been banned in Pakistan since September 2012, when it featured the blasphemous movie “Innocence of Muslims,” which led to much rioting and hostility throughout the Muslim world. The creator of the film, 55-year-old Nakoula Basseley is an Egyptian-American Coptic Christian, who has served time in prison and has lots of aliases. Meanwhile, many of the other cast and crew claim they did not know about the film’s sacrilegious message.
A committee, including members of IT Ministry, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Religious Affairs Ministry and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) was set up last year to come to a solution. The PTA tried to block the video itself but was unable to do so. Ironically, many people in the country still easily access YouTube via proxy servers.
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