Pak Outlaws 17 Websites for Anti-Islamic Content
-- Seven major websites, together with Google and Yahoo, will be scrutinized and 17 lesser-known sites are being blocked completely for suspected blasphemous material under court orders.
The moves followed a provisional ban that Pakistan forced on Facebook in May.
According to a spokesman for the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the sites to be monitored comprise Yahoo, Google, YouTube, Amazon and MSN, Hotmail and Bing from Microsoft.
"If any particular link with offensive content appears on these websites, the (link) shall be blocked immediately without disturbing the main website”, he added.
Scott Rubin, a Spokesman for Google, countered that the Company intended to monitor how the new policies would influence access to its services.
He said that Google and YouTube were platforms for free expression, and they tried to allow as much content as possible on their services and still ensured that they enforce the policies.
While, Microsoft and Amazon did not respond immediately, Yahoo said Pakistan's actions were disappointing.
Regardless of the order being authorized, local journalists have been incapable of getting copies of it from the Ministry of Information Technology, which has already begun the process of barring and monitoring the various sites.
A court in the country banned Facebook for two weeks in May during disputes over a page that encouraged users to post images of [the holy Prophet] Mohammed [PBUH].
Source: topnews.com
According to a spokesman for the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the sites to be monitored comprise Yahoo, Google, YouTube, Amazon and MSN, Hotmail and Bing from Microsoft.
"If any particular link with offensive content appears on these websites, the (link) shall be blocked immediately without disturbing the main website”, he added.
Scott Rubin, a Spokesman for Google, countered that the Company intended to monitor how the new policies would influence access to its services.
He said that Google and YouTube were platforms for free expression, and they tried to allow as much content as possible on their services and still ensured that they enforce the policies.
While, Microsoft and Amazon did not respond immediately, Yahoo said Pakistan's actions were disappointing.
Regardless of the order being authorized, local journalists have been incapable of getting copies of it from the Ministry of Information Technology, which has already begun the process of barring and monitoring the various sites.
A court in the country banned Facebook for two weeks in May during disputes over a page that encouraged users to post images of [the holy Prophet] Mohammed [PBUH].
Source: topnews.com
