Government of Pakistan on Saturday has blocked access to the popular video-sharing website Youtube for having “blasphemous” content & material considered offensive to Islam. The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority has ordered all the Internet service providers of the country to block access to Youtube. The order, issued by the director of the enforcement agency, claimed the ratio of “non-Islamic objectionable video” has increased on the website.

An inter-ministerial committee has decided to block YouTube.com because it contained “blasphemous content, videos & documents. An official from Pakistan said, “The site will remain blocked till further orders from the Pakistan”. Some ISPs have also asked the users to write to the youtube.com administrators to “remove the objectionable web content/movies because this removal would enable the authorities to order un-blocking of this website.”

Some officials said that the site will be blocked because it contained controversial sketches of the Prophet Mohammed which were republished by Danish newspapers. At least 17 Danish newspapers republished the controversial drawing, vowing to defend freedom of expression a day after Danish police said they had foiled a plot to murder the cartoonist.