There has been a strong reaction over the (PTA) Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s directive to all the Pakistan’s Internet Service Providers to block an internet video sharing website, YouTube.com. It has been learnt that the step had been taken on account of the availability of a blasphemous Dutch videos regarding rigging during the polls & anti-Musharraf material on the site.

Although people belonging to all walks of life have condemned the blasphemous act, the majority has criticised the government’s way of ‘dealing with’ the issue. Saeed Khan a Human rights activist said that any act of blasphemy against any religion was condemnable, but the government had no right to ban the entire website.

Saeed Khan said, “I think the government should have complained to the YouTube website staff instead of blocking it”. An official of Cybernet named as Fahim Younis said that the ban on the website had no severe effect on the business of the ISPs.

An official said that the government should have requested the website concerned to delete the contents, as many people who used it to earn money had been affected by the ban. “The site was a source of income for him. If the step has been taken purely for registering a protest against the blasphemous contents, then I fully support the government, regardless of the fact that it is affecting my business. There should be a policy on the part of the YouTube staff to make sure that blasphemous contents cannot be uploaded on to the site”.