Pakistan's internet censorship “has no impact” – DAWN.COM

LAHORE: In a small Internet cafe, Abdullah gets round the censors with one click and logs onto YouTube, officially banned for a year and at the heart of Pakistan's cyberwar for control of the web.

On September 17, 2012 Islamabad blocked access to the popular video-sharing website after it aired a trailer for a low-budget American film deemed offensive to Islam and the Prophet Mohammed.

Pakistan summoned the most senior diplomat of the United States present in the country to protest against Innocence of Muslims, demanding that the film be removed and severe action taken against its producers.

A year later, the film is barely mentioned but YouTube, whose parent company is US multinational Google Inc, is still banned in Pakistan, as it is in China and Iran.

Pakistan is no stranger to censorship. Foreign television programmes deemed offensive are blocked while scenes considered too daring are censored in films shown at cinemas.

But the YouTube ban is in name only.

Internet users like Abdullah Raheem, a university student in Pakistan's cultural capital Lahore, can easily access the site through a simple proxy or Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Most people who go to school or university know how to access YouTube, but not the rest of the population, says Abdullah.

Only 10 per cent of Pakistan's estimated 180 million people have access to the Internet, one of the lowest rates in the world.

This ban has no impact, Abdullah declares, who still feels guilty about logging onto YouTube. As a Muslim, I'm ashamed... because 'Innocence of Muslims' defiled Islam.

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Pakistan's internet censorship “has no impact” - DAWN.COM