Pakistan moves in with more censorship
On the heels of recent Internet censorship controversies in Pakistan, news reports claim a Pakistani court has ordered more censorship against various sites.
The new list includes:
YouTube
Yahoo
MSN
Hotmail
Bing
Google
Amazon
Islam Exposed
and In The Name Of Allah
After a recent Youtube and Facebook blockages by the Pakistani government, this move seems to have not only gone after the online video giant, but also every major search engine, the leading cloud email service, and the number one online retailer. While it seems that these were ordered to be censored due to content that would be “offensive to Muslims”, it’s hard to imagine what was of so much concern that they’d want to basically sever all direct access to some of the main internet utilities.
It appears that the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority has not yet began to block the sites, but a spokesman for the organization has made it clear that they will comply with all government orders.
With it seeming likely that these sites may be blocked in the near future, you can help report accessibility or inaccessibility in the Herdict Reporter or tweet reports with the hashtag @herdictreport.
About the Author: Alex Fayette
Alex is a Junior at Yale University who is currently an intern with the Berkman Center for Internet and Society @ Harvard Law School. His focus this summer is with Herdict.org and also with other Berkman projects falling under the Freedom of Expression umbrella. He is majoring in Economics and Physics, and loves singing and aviation on the side.
