Access to YouTube blocked until further notice because of "non-Islamic" videos

    http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25889

    Pakistan, Feb. 24 /CNW Telbec/ - Reporters Without Borders condemns
yesterday's decision by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to
block access to the video-sharing website YouTube . Claiming that the
proportion of "non-Islamic objectionable video" had increased on YouTube, the
PTA, the official Internet regulatory body, ordered all Pakistani ISPs to
block access to the website until further notice.
    "It should not be up to the PTA to order this kind of blocking" the press
freedom organisation said. "Such a decision should be taken by the courts, not
by a body that is under the government's control. Anyway, we regard this
measure as disproportionate ans we find that the idea to respect a proportion
of videos is opposed to the primary principle of sharing online videos
website".
    Don't Block the Blog
(http://help-pakistan.com/main/dont-block-the-blog/), a group of Pakistani
bloggers who combat censorship, thinks the blockage order was prompted by two
videos. One is anti-Islamic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3s8jtvvg00). The
other shows voters describing the fraud they witnessed during the
parliamentary elections on 18 February
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TPUHHFky38), which ended up being won by the
opposition Pakistan People's Party.

For further information: Katherine Borlongan, secretary general,
Reporters Without Borders, [phone], Cell: [phone], Fax: (514)
521-7771, [e-mail]