Pak blockage of Facebook, YouTube might increase traffic to these sites

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's blockage on wildly popular web-sites like YouTube and Facebook will likely have a reverse effect from the one desired by authorities as curious Netizens would log onto these sites to see what the brouhaha is about.

Pakistan's telecom regulatory body, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has said it found 'sacrilegious' content on YouTube, leading them to block it. Incidentally, YouTube has been co-founded by Jawed Karim, a Muslim.

"We have asked the Internet service providers to block more than 450 web links, which contain derogatory material," The News quoted a PTA spokesman, as saying.

"The action follows our repeated attempts to convince these websites to discard such material," he added.

He said the PTA had approached the administrators of the websites through emails, however he could not name the officials who had been contacted.

Industry officials, on the other hand, say the authorities have yet to get in touch with the people who run Facebook and YouTube, the report said.

These hasty suppressive tactics are probably not going to be too fruitful, according to industry officials.

"There is no way of stopping this. The day government lifts restriction from these websites, the Internet traffic will double. People will visit them just out of curiosity," said an advertiser, who deals with Facebook and YouTube.