ISLAMABAD: A ban imposed on video-sharing website YouTube may be lifted after Eidul Fitr, a report published on a local news website said.
The report quoted Federal Minister for Science and Technology Anusha Rehman as saying that an internal-member committee would be convened soon to review the possibility of removing blasphemous content from the website.
Rehman said the government wanted to lift the ban on YouTube and steps were being taken in this respect. She added that all relevant stakeholders would be kept in the loop regarding the matter.
The government had blocked access to YouTube on September 17, 2012 after the website refused to filter sacrilegious content in Pakistan.
Prior to this, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), acting on orders of the Supreme Court, had started blocking links carrying the video. However, innumerable instances of videos being uploaded largely nullified the PTA’s attempts.
The government also requested Google to block the clips from being accessed in Pakistan, but the internet giant did not entertain the request saying it did not have localised services in the country which would allow location-based blocking.
The government finally imposed a blanket block on YouTube on September 17.
Besides Pakistan, countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sudan and Iran have also blocked YouTube for not removing anti-Islam videos.