Requesting the lifting of the 3-year-old ban on YouTube, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority filed a petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
YouTube was blocked in Pakistan in 2012 September when it failed to remove the profane “Innocence of Muslims” movie that lead to angry protests around the world.
In today’s petition, PTA said YouTube was banned by the orders from the apex court but YouTube has launched a local Pakistan version removing offensive content for Pakistani users.
Since a local version is provided for Pakistan, the ban on YouTube is not required anymore and the court should lift the ban on YouTube, pleads the petition.
Google has announced a local version for YouTube that will be customizing content as per the Pakistan’s requirement, but the offensive content is still available on the website unlike the claim of the PTA.
Though Pakistani ISPs already opened YouTube access in Pakistan, the official lift of the ban remains in the supreme Court’s hand.
If the Supreme Court lifts the ban on YouTube, Pakistani users will be accessing YouTube after three and a half years.
YouTube is the largest online video sharing community now available locally in 88 countries and in 76 global languages includes Urdu and has more than 1 billion users monthly across the world.
