One year to the YouTube ban

From the Newspaper Published July 23, 2013

THIS refers to your editorial ‘Still not accessible: YouTube ban’(July 18).

It was Sept 17 last year when the people of Pakistan accessed the world’s most popular video streaming site YouTube without any hindrance. Since then, it is a total blackout. Though proxies have made the site still accessible, it is officially banned in Pakistan.

Needless to say that the PTA has so far gained nothing from this long-lingering ban which is about to complete one year. On the other hand, the ban has left a disastrous impact on almost all segments of society as the blessings of YouTube are not meant for any particular section of society.

There is hardly any section of society which does not access the site. Students, teachers, research scholars, doctors, movie lovers and sport buffs all ubiquitously reap the fruits of YouTube.

YouTube is not a mere video sharing site. Rather it is the most accessible source of knowledge and learning. Thus a ban on YouTube amounts to a ban on learning.

The right - wing forces urged the previous government to clamp a ban on the site after a blasphemous video surfaced on the site last year.

The government instead of developing an effective mechanism to block the objectionable contents, placed a blanket ban on the site.

FAZAL BALOCH Turbat

Newspaper

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Anoop

Jul 23, 2013 01:35pm

Most of the time YouTube is used for entertainment, NOT education. This is the internet and there is, literally, no topic on this god's green Earth whose information is solely on YouTube. To name a few alternatives - You can catch lectures of top Universities like MIT online, you can use ITunes, a free software, to access ITunes University, which too has much greater information than YouTube. So, the writer presents only one side of the argument in favour of YouTube to get his way, like a lawyer uses only convenient information to get his way in court. YouTube access in China is banned, yet it is the 2nd largest economy in the world. :)

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Edd

Jul 23, 2013 03:54pm

The ban has been brought about by the fact that Pakistan is not capable of criticism or satire expressed by others. All such things allegedly are blasphemous.

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