Sindh High Court directs PTA to block obscene material on YouTube

Karachi, Jun.3 (ANI): The Sindh High Court (SHC) has asked the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to ensure that no obscene material is uploaded on the video sharing website-YouTube from Pakistan.

Hearing a petition filed against the National Response Centre for Cyber Crimes and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for failing to take necessary action against a man accused of cyber crime, the division bench of the SHC said that PTA officials would be held accountable if any objectionable item is found to be uploaded on YouTube from Pakistan.

"In case such material remains available on the website or is uploaded in future from Pakistan, we will hold responsible PTA officials, who shall be exposed to criminal prosecution," The Daily Times quoted the court's verdict, as saying.

Social networking websites such as Facebook, and YouTube were banned in the country for a brief period last month following a widespread protest over blasphemous contents on them.

A contest 'Everyone Draw Mohammed Day', which was organised by a Facebook user calling on people to draw a caricature of Prophet Mohammed to promote 'freedom of expression' had sparked a major backlash in Pakistan, which saw massive protests across the country.

Earlier this week, the Lahore High Court directed the concerned authorities to lift the ban imposed on Facebook.

Reversing an earlier order, LHC Judge Ejaz Chaudhry asked the PTA to lift sanctions on the website, saying the court is against blocking any access to information.

"Restore Facebook. We don't want to block access to information," Justice Chaudhry had said. (ANI)