Pak unblocks YouTube after 3-years of ban

Pakistan on Monday unblocked YouTube nearly three years after the popular video-sharing website was banned for carrying a blasphemous movie, following assurances by the company to insert country-specific filters to remove objectionable content.

Bloody riots were held in several countries including Pakistan when the website carried ‘Innocence of Muslims’ in 2012, which Muslims blasted as blasphemous and derogatory to their religion.

The site was opened after company agreed to install Pakistan specific filters and arrangements to block objectionable material through a localized version, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) spokesman Khurram Mehran told media. “We have issued directives to all relevant people to provide access to YouTube and it is accessible now,” he said.