Pakistan testing URL filters to lift year-long YouTube ban

Nearly a year after it was first put in place, the ban on YouTube in Pakistan seems to be on its way out. The video sharing website could be back in action as soon as September this year, according to reports.

The Wall Street Journal has stated that Pakistan is reportedly testing URL filters to let the government exercise control over blocking certain controversial content. This seems to be a better alternative to blocking the entire service throughout the country. The URL blocking technology has already been used to limit access on thousands of websites, including Vimeo.

The ban on YouTube was first put up in September last year. The then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Raja Pervez Ashraf, had suspended the service over a low budget movie on YouTube called "Innocence of Muslims". The film was termed blasphemous and YouTube was subsequently banned in the country. Uproar over the movie did not contain itself to Pakistan, either, and spread to countries like Egypt, North Africa and parts of the Middle East as well.

Ban to be lifted soon?

The ban was challenged in the Lahore High Court by Internet rights group Bytes for All. Prospects seem bright that there could be a decision taken to lift the ban by the High Court. The ban on the website had been lifted in December last year, although it was only lifted for three minutes. It was imposed again after a TV channel demonstrated how the “blasphemous” film could still be accessed thanks to multiple users uploading it.

Google on its part has been reluctant to censor YouTube in Pakistan. The company has a strict policy of not cutting back content unless it violates YouTube’s Community Guidelines. According to the Internet giant, the "Innocence of Muslims" does not violate any guideline.

This time around, though, Pakistan seems to be keen on finding a workaround in order to make most of YouTube available to its citizens. “We are talking to technical experts… as soon as we get a technical solution to block that video, we will lift the ban on YouTube,” said Kamran Ali, a Spokesperson for the Minister of Information Technology, who heads the committee that will review the ban.