Raja Pervez Ashraf, Prime Minister of Pakistan, has announced that it will lift the ban on YouTube only after completing work on a filtering mechanism, reports IANS (via Deccan Herald). However, it did not give the timeline by which the mechanism will be ready to implement. YouTube, the popular video hosting service, was blocked by the Pakistan government on September 17 after mass riots erupted in the country following the uploading of an anti-Islam film "Innocence of Muslims". On December 29, 2012, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had directed internet service providers in Pakistan to unblock YouTube. However, within three minutes of unblocking the site, the ban was reinstated as the clip was still not removed from YouTube. In 2010, Pakistan had blocked the popular video sharing website YouTube because of its growing sacrilegious content. The site was also blocked in 2008 for carrying material deemed offensive to Muslims. In 2008, Pakistan Telecom had accidentally blocked YouTube by posting a redirect for YouTube’s IP address that Hong Kong Internet Service provider PCCW distributed to other ISPs around the world. Internet Censorship in India: Internet censorship is nothing new to India either. In last couple of years, ISPs in India too have been ordered by the GoI to block social networking sites that disturbed peace and harmony among the communities. Here's a quick recap: - On August 23, 2012, Indian Government set a 12 hour deadline to the micro blogging giant Twitter to remove 28 pages containing inflammatory pages related to the Assam violence, failing which it will face…
