Pak bans 17 websites; to monitor Google, Yahoo

The Pakistan government on Friday directed authorities to totally block 17 lesser known websites with blasphemous and anti-Islamic content, even as it asked them to monitor seven other major portals, including Google, Yahoo, Amazon and YouTube, for sacrilegious material.

The instructions were issued to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority after an inter-ministerial committee met to evaluate websites with anti-Islamic content. The committee decided to completely block 17 websites which are lesser known.

It also decided that seven other websites, including Google, MSN, Yahoo, Bing, Amazon and YouTube, would be monitored and links on them with offensive content would be blocked without disturbing the main portals.

Acting on the directives of the committee, the information technology ministry directed the PTA to act against the websites without any delay, officials said. The inter-ministerial committee also said that blocking of e-information needed by students and researchers should be avoided.

The action taken by the government was a follow-up to an order issued recently by the Bahawalpur bench of the Lahore high court. Acting on a petition, the court had directed authorities to take action against 24 websites for hosting blasphemous and sacrilegious contents.