Pakistan Extends Internet Ban

Pakistan is on a role, so far they have blocked the majority of the social networking sites available on the web along with 450 individual websites. This ban had been imposed on several links on the YouTube website, but recently the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority blocked the whole site. Their reason for the block? They claim “objectionable content” continued to increase so they had to take action and block the entire site.

Facebook was banned earlier due to a campaign started by users to create funny pictures of Prophet Muhammed. The Facebook group “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” is at the heart of this recent ban. A Pakistani court ruled the site blocked after Islamic lawyers declared the pictures blasphemous. Although such Islamic extremists do not hold many government positions, their influence is obvious. Lawyers are claiming their actions in banning are in defense of Islam. As of today, the ban is scheduled to be lifted on May 31. However, the ban will most likely be extended or made permanent if site administrators do not remove the offending material.

Pakistan is a country that loves its social networking sites. 60 percent of the country’s population is under 25. The majority of the 25 million internet users in Pakistan are in that age group. The young people still have access to their Twitter accounts and are expressing their frustration with regular tweets. Internet users in Pakistan are asked to call a special phone number if they happen across any other web pages that would be considered blasphemous to the Islamic religion.