Pakistan Blocks YouTube Videos

By: Jillian C. York on 8 February 2010
Posted in Pakistan, Asia, Political filtering

In 2008, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority blocked YouTube in what was said to be a reaction to a trailer of Geert Wilder's film "Fitna" hosted on the video-sharing site. The ban was reversed soon afterward, and Pakistani netizens have enjoyed unfettered access to YouTube since.

On Sunday, however, the Pakistani Twitterverse began complaining that YouTube had become inaccessible.

The possible block came after a video of Pakistani President Asif Zardari, in which Zardari tells an unruly audience member to "shut up," was posted on YouTube. After an hour or so, YouTube was once again accessible, save for a dozen or so videos that showed the now-infamous clip of Zardari.

Pakistani blogger (and dentist) Teeth Maestro posted about the incident; one commenter noted that despite the blocking of several videos, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority has not succeeded in removing all copies, and that the video is now also available on Facebook.