Pakistan set to end year-long YouTube blockade

For the past year, people in Pakistan have been unable to watch YouTube videos. But that looks set to change after officials in the country indicated that it could be unblocked by as soon as September.

According to the Wall Street Journal however, the state will use a URL blocker to keep out videos that it considers to be locally sensitive.

The technology has already been applied to Vimeo and “thousands” of other sites to limit access to politically sensitive and pornographic content.

According to The Next Web, the block came about because Google refused to censor the video Innocence of the Muslims. The company did not the deem the video to have broken its terms and conditions and moreover expressed concerns about making censorship decisions in a country where it does not have a local office. It also expressed concerns about there being no conditions that would protect it from being responsible for any content deemed unlawful.

The ban was reportedly criticised by many in the Pakistani entertainment industry, with a group lobbying to have the ban overturned as far back as January.

The ban was initially lifted in December last year but was quickly reinstated that it was still possible to access the contentious video from other people’s accounts.

This time government officials seem to be making a more concerted effort at getting the video-sharing platform back online. Speaking to the Journal, Kamran Ali, who is leading the YouTube ban review committee, said that the government is talking to experts and will lift the ban “as soon as we get a technical solution to block that video.”