'YouTube ban may be lifted with firewall'

FAKIR SYED IQTIDARUDDIN

KARACHI: Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that the ban on YouTube will be lifted but with a firewall installed within a few weeks, reported the media on Saturday.

Talking to the media outside the Parliament today, the minister said that the process will require some time, but the video sharing website will become accessible within weeks.

It may be recalled that Pakistan had banned YouTube over its refusal to remove clips from an anti-Islam film "Innocence of Muslims", hosted on the website.

The film sparked riots and furore across the Muslim world with mass protests in Egypt, Libya and Pakistan among other Muslim countries.

US embassies in Cairo and Benghazi were stormed with the US Ambassador in Libya assassinated in a militant attack amidst protests.

Malik earlier had said on Twitter that the website would be reopened on huge public demand, but the telecom regulator would install a firewall to block objectionable content.

Last year, the video portal had asked Pakistan to write a formal request to the US government as they were not bound by Pakistani laws. But as there was no Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) between US and Pakistan, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) was unable to issue a formal request.

Under the MLAT, the US government can officially request YouTube’s owner, Google Inc., to remove any material from the portal.

In 2012, PTA had assured that it can block any material on the website, but the Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT), refuting the claim said no such technology was available to them at the time.

Earlier, the interior minister and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) recommended that the prime minister reopen the website, but Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf ordered the site to be blocked again.

Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (ISPAK) had welcomed restoring access to the video sharing website.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2013