According to our experience up till now YouTube is opening on PTCL internet these days which is a very good sign. Maybe the government is interested in opening YouTube. But no official confirmation has been issued yet, so lets hope for the best as it has been a long time since YouTube has been blocked in the country.

It was banned on September 17, 2012 over blasphemous content , which lead to serious protests around the world. Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2012 ordered that the ban will be lifted from the video-sharing website when a way will be available to completely block all the blasphemous content.

Rumor: YouTube Unblocked in Pakistan

Also Read: SHC issues notice on YOUTUBE ban

But finally YouTube is accessible to those using PTCL internet after being blocked for a long time. Different petitions were filed in the court to lift the ban from YouTube. The court was also requested to restrain the federal authorities from blocking IP addresses and declare the censorship and the arbitrary blanket ban on websites including YouTube a blatant violation of the fundamental rights as preserved in the Constitution of Pakistan.

Petitioners stated that the PTA, like many other countries, could ban certain intolerable and blasphemous URLs as an alternative of placing a deliberate ban on YouTube. They requested the court to direct the PTA to lift the ban and end the censorship that deprived citizens of their rights.

Dr. Ismail Shah, PTA Chairman made it clear before that there is no trustworthy plan to block access to a video that lead to the ban on YouTube in Pakistan.

Chairman PTA, Dr. Ismail Shah said:

“PTA has tried to find a technical solution to block the video while keeping YouTube open, but it is next to impossible. The only thing that PTA can do is to create a warning page that opens prior to the video.”

According to Dr. Shah, video was uploaded on hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPs)– a communication protocol over a computer network which cannot be removed apart from blocking the website. All other Islamic Countries can access YouTube including Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Egypt etc. The video is accessible in Saudi and Qatar, preceded by a warning, a system that could be used in Pakistan as well.

Also Read: Government in Talks with Google to Introduce Local Version of YouTube