Pakistan said on Monday it had removed a three-year ban on
YouTube after the Google-owned video-sharing website launched a local version
that allows the government to remove material it considers offensive.
Pakistan banned access to YouTube in September 2012 after an
anti-Islam film, "Innocence of Muslims", was uploaded to the site,
sparking violent protests across major cities in the Muslim-majority country of
190 million people.
The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom said in a
statement that under the new version of YouTube, the Pakistan Telecommunication
Authority can ask for access to offending material to be blocked.
"On the recommendation of PTA, Government of Pakistan
has allowed access to recently launched country version of YouTube for Internet
users in Pakistan," the ministry said.
"Google has provided an online web process through
which requests for blocking access of the offending material can be made by PTA
to Google directly and Google/YouTube will accordingly restrict access to the said
offending material for users within Pakistan."
Blasphemy is a highly sensitive subject in Pakistan, where
angry mobs have killed many people accused of insulting Islam. The crime of
blasphemy can carry the death penalty, although a death sentence has never been
carried out.
Pakistan has blocked thousands of web pages it deems
undesirable in the last few years as internet access spreads, but activists say
the government sometimes blocks sites to muzzle liberal or critical voices.
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