Pakistan says no to YouTube

Followed by an order from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), YouTube, the video sharing website, has been blocked by Pakistan, saying that it contains "blasphemous" material. PTA also directed Internet service providers to stop access to social network Facebook, as it was indulged in an online competition to draw the Prophet Mohammad.

Way back in 2007, the video sharing website faced similar kind of ban in the country for about a year. According to a PTA official, some caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad were transferred from Facebook to YouTube, and hence, the authority has taken the action.

According to Wahaj-us-Siraj, the CEO of Nayatel, an Internet service provider, the ban will have an impact on the overall Internet traffic cutting up to 25 percent of total Internet traffic in Pakistan.