Pakistan bans YouTube

Pakistan has become the latest country to block access to YouTube because of anti-Islamic clips posted on the site.

Its attempts to ban access to the site have been blamed for a near-global blackout of the site on Sunday that lasted almost two hours.

Google, the owner of YouTube, blamed the outage on "erroneous internet protocols", sourced in Pakistan.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority told the country’s 70 internet service providers that the site would be blocked until further notice.

Officials from the PTA have not said which material it considered offensive but speculation centres on a trailer for a forthcoming film by Dutch politician Geert Wilders.

The film portrays Islam as a fascist religion prone to inciting violence against women and homosexuals.

Pakistan is not the only country to have blocked access to the popular video-sharing website. Other countries that have temporarily blocked access include Morocco, Turkey and Thailand.

www.pta.gov.pk
www.youtube.com

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