Islamabad: As many as 20,000 websites along with YouTube have been blocked in Pakistan over blasphemous material like the anti-film that sparked protests across the Muslim world, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said.
“We have blocked 20,000 objectionable websites and blogs since the blasphemous film
surfaced on the Internet,” said a PTA official, who declined to be named.
“We are strictly following the court’s orders in this regard.”
He was referring to a sessions court in Lahore that ordered the registration of a case against the PTA Chairman for the organisation’s failure to block footage from the anti-Islam film on the Internet.
He said: “The PTA has not only blocked websites featuring the anti-Islam film but thousands of others with objectionable material.”
The anti-Islam film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ recently triggered violent protests across Pakistan that resulted in 23 deaths and the destruction of property worth billions of rupees.
The official said that Pakistan government is not going to unblock YouTube in the near future.
“The ban on YouTube will continue as long as it does not remove the blasphemous film. Pakistan can take no chances on lifting the ban as people are not ready to accept this film,” he said.
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