Pakistan government has formally unblocked YouTube after three years and four months
ISLAMABAD – The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has been ordered to officially reopen access to YouTube for Pakistani internet users on Monday, over three and a half years after the world’s most popular video streaming website was initially blocked in the country.
According to media sources the IT Ministry has introduced the local version of YouTube in Pakistan. “Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has told Supreme Court about the removal of objectionable material from the site and any objectionable material can be removed on the request of Pakistan government,” reports added.
“YouTube will be revived in next 48 hours all around the country,” PTA told the media.
The government had blocked YouTube in Pakistan on September 17, 2012, after receiving information about continuing access to a contentious blasphemous video created and uploaded in the United States on YouTube.
Last week, Google announced that it had launched localized versions in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, paving the way for the website to be unblocked in Pakistan.
With over 1 billion monthly users worldwide, YouTube is the world’s largest online video sharing community, and is now available in 88 countries locally, as well as in 76 global languages.