Pak telecom authority bans Blackberry services

Islamabad, May 22 (ANI): The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has not only blocked usage of the social networking sites Twitter and Facebook, but also Blackberry services until further notice.

According to the Daily Times, the PTA has asked all cellular companies to put an immediate cap on all Blackberry services until further notice.

Sources said the PTA issued the directives on the orders of the Lahore High Court, which asked the government to make sure that Facebook is blocked for all Internet users in the country.

On Friday, following a ban on Facebook and popular video sharing portal YouTube, the social networking site Twitter was banned in Pakistan for carrying blasphemous contents.

Hundreds of Twitter users tried in vain to log in to their accounts as a message- "This site has been restricted," was displayed on their computer screens.

A statement issued by the PTA said that it has blocked over 450 links containing offensive content.

In Peshawar, more than 500 people participated in a protest against Facebook for holding competitions of drawing caricatures of Prophet Muhammad. They chanted slogans against the government and demanded it to end all ties with countries where these 'blasphemous' caricatures are being published. (ANI)