STAFF REPORT IBD: Delay in blocking of websites objectionable has always been an issue for the internet surfers but at the same time the blockade of those website that do not carry any objectionable stuff, too, has confused rather surprised the internet users as the telecom watchdog, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority) has not yet come up with any clear criteria of blocking certain websites.
More recently, the telecom authority has directed all ISPs to block 15 YouTube links reportedly on personal reason which, according to experts, is not understandable.
Surprisingly, these YouTube videos, when checked, were neither blasphemous nor were inappropriate in nature. They simply were the coverage of a press conference of a TV host in which she alleged her former husband (reportedly the MD of TV channel) for a number of wrongs.
Since the procedure of blocking of websites is not yet clear as it is completely the discretion of the telecom watchdog, the stakeholders have urged the telecom authority to come up with a clear and transparent criteria in this regard. According to them, those websites carrying objectionable and blasphemous material must be banned immediately.
This would ultimately go in the benefit of the PTA which faces all the time criticism for the spread of obscenity through countless websites have porn material, they said.