The Minister of Information Technology and Telecommunications Anusha Rehman said if they met the Google management requirements the chances of YouTube restoration in the country are bright. She told this at the Senate Standing Committee on Tuesday. She told that committee that the government had succeeded in convincing the Google management about religious sensitivities of Pakistanis and in this come into practice it would also be easier for the local search engine to block any blasphemous or objectionable content from the website.
She said that the Google management of YouTube is willing to localize the video sharing website in the country but will not be responsible if any objectionable content uploaded on the website as this will be a personal action of the individual.
She added that the PTA is working on a draft ordinance which will be practiced by the ministry for enactment as law. If the YouTube be localized in Pakistan to remove the objectionable content from the website would be easier, instead of installing expensive filtration softwares.
Google removed the Anti-Islamic content from the website at the request of different Islamic countries including Saudi Arabi, Libya, Egypt and Iraq by allocating them special subdomain for their countries because they met the Google requirements. By Localizing the video sharing website Google would not be infringing its own company law of encumbering freedom of expression. The officials of ministry of IT are demanding to eradicate profanity content first and also the endorsement of draft from both national assembly and senate for launching the youtube.com.pk in the country.
