Pakistan has blocked the popular video sharing website YouTube because of its "growing sacrilegious content". Access to the social network Facebook has also been barred as part of a crackdown on websites seen to be hosting un-Islamic content.
On Wednesday a Pakistani court ordered Facebook to be blocked because of a page inviting people to draw images of the Prophet Muhammad. Some Wikipedia pages are also now being restricted, latest reports say. Correspondents say it remains to be seen how successful the new bans will be in Pakistan
YouTube says it is "looking into the matter and working to ensure that the service is restored as soon as possible". The site was briefly blocked in Pakistan in 2008 - ostensibly for carrying material deemed offensive to Muslims.
Facebook said on Wednesday that the content did not violate its terms. There have been protests in several Pakistani cities against the Facebook competition.
'Derogatory material'
The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority said it had ordered internet service providers to "completely shut down" YouTube and prevent Facebook from being viewed within Pakistan. It said the move came only after "all possible avenues" within its jurisdiction had been used. "Before shutting down (YouTube), we did try just to block particular URLs or links, and access to 450 links on the internet were stopped," said PTA spokesman Khurram Ali Mehran. "But the blasphemous content kept appearing so we ordered a total shut down."
One of the links blocked is to a BBC News website article about Pakistani soldiers apparently beating Taliban suspects in a video posted on Facebook. A YouTube spokesperson said: "YouTube offers citizens the world over a vital window on cultures and societies and we believe people should not be denied access to information via video. "Because YouTube is a platform for free expression of all sorts, we take great care when we enforce our policies. Content that violates our guidelines is removed as soon as we become aware of it."
The controversy began with the Facebook feature called "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day". Depictions of the Prophet are forbidden in Islam. A message on the item's information page said it was not "trying to slander the average Muslim". "We simply want to show the extremists that threaten to harm people because of their Muhammad depictions that we're not afraid of them."
The page contains drawings and caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad and characters from other religions, including Hinduism and Christianity. "Such malicious and insulting attacks hurt the sentiments of Muslims around the world and cannot be accepted under the garb of freedom of expression," Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said about the page.
Facebook said in a statement that it would take action if any content "becomes an attack on anyone, including Muslim people", but that in this case its policies were not violated. "Facebook values free speech and enables people to express their feelings about a multitude of topics, even some that others may find distasteful or ignorant," the statement said.
A hotline has been set up in Pakistan, asking members of the public to phone in if they see offensive material anywhere. Islamic parties say they are planning nationwide protests in Pakistan. Five people were killed in the country in 2006 during violent demonstrations following publication of Muhammad cartoons in a Danish newspaper.
===========
Setelah salah satu jejering sosial, Facebook, dilarang penggunaannya oleh pemerintah Pakistan, langkah berikut yang dilakukan adalah dengan memblokir akses YouTube di negara tersebut. Saya semakin penasaran terhadap sikap pemerintah Pakistan dan negara-negara Islam lainnya mengenai langkah berikut apa yang akan diambil oleh mereka terkait dengan kebebasan berpikir, berekspresi, dan berpendapat yang seharusnya menjadi hak setiap orang. Kebebasan itu bukan berarti seseorang atau kelompok bisa bertindak sebebas-bebasnya melainkan orang atau kelompok lain pun bebas mengkritik pandangan orang lain, dan bukannya melarang atau memblokir hak-hak orang lain tanpa sebelumnya diadakan semacam debat atau diskusi. Terlebih, jika larangan atau pemblokiran tersebut dilakukan dengan cara-cara kekerasan, seperti ancaman/intimidasi dan vandalisme.
Selain itu, Facebook dan YouTube bukan saja merupakan wadah orang untuk menggunakan hak berpendapat dan berekspresi, tetapi juga merupakan wadah orang untuk berkomunikasi. Artinya, melalui Facebook dan YouTube orang bisa berhubungan dengan orang banyak (bukan hanya teman atau orang-orang yang dikenalnya) melainkan juga bisa terhubung dengan masyarakat yang lebih luas. Memang saat Facebook dan YouTube dilarang atau diblokir bukanlah akhir dari segalanya, namun bisa saja terjadi ketika kedua hal tersebut menjadi pemicu terhadap pelarangan-pelarangan lainnya.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar
Tidak setuju dengan pandangan saya? Silahkan mendebatnya.