Authorities blame online content providers for material that is offensive to Muslims and the Muslim religion. Anti-Islam links are blocked without blocking portals. Eight smaller websites are also attacked. “Google and YouTube are platforms for free expression, and we try to allow as much . . . content as possible on our services and still ensure that we enforce our policies,” Google spokesperson says.

Islamabad (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Pakistan has started to monitor the web for its blasphemous content. Internet giants like Google, Yahoo!, Amazon, Bing, Msnm and Hotmail have come under the scrutiny of Pakistani authorities for allowing online material that is offensive to Muslims and the Muslim religion.

Khurram Mehran, a spokesman for the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, said that under instructions from the Ministry of Information Technology, the Authority began monitoring and barring various sites as of 26 June, following a ruling by a judge in the city of Bahawalpur against YouTube and eight smaller websites deemed anti-Islam.

“If any particular link with offensive content appears on these websites, the (link) shall be blocked immediately without disturbing the main website,” Mehran said.

Pakistan claims that it is monitoring the world wide web for national security reasons and that no major search engine will be censored.

Google spokesman Scott Rubin said the company intends to monitor how Pakistan's new policies affect access to its services, which include the world's most popular search engine and the most widely watched video site, YouTube.

“Google and YouTube are platforms for free expression, and we try to allow as much . . . content as possible on our services and still ensure that we enforce our policies,' Mr Rubin said.

Yahoo! also responded to Pakistan's actions, calling them disappointing. The company is “founded on the principle that access to information can improve people's lives,” a Yahoo! spokeswoman said.

So far, 17 sites deemed anti-Islam and blasphemous have been blocked, including IslamExposed.blogspot.com, a blog created through Google's own Blogger service. The site features postings with headlines such as 'Islam: The Ultimate Hypocrisy' and links to anti-Islam online petitions.

Back in May, a top court put a ban on Facebook amid anger over a webpage that encouraged users to post images of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. However, many young Muslim users of the social networking site reacted negatively to the ban, which was lifted after two weeks.

The government and the courts of Pakistan base their decisions on the country’s so-called ‘Blasphemy law’, introduced 25 years ago by then strongman Zia-ul-Haq. The ‘law’ imposes respect for the Prophet Muhammad and the Qur‘an.

The Catholic Church has fought against the law for many years because it victimises Muslims as well as members of religious minorities.

• pakistan
• censorship
• google
• yahoo!
• youtube
• court
• blasphemy