Embarassed by what proved to be a historical folly the Pakistani authorities said on Tuesday that the ban on YouTube website was being lifted as the ‘blasphemous’ content published on the site had been removed. While the authorities here have the long tradition of claiming victory instead of conceding their mistakes, it is believed that the ban was lifted after international pressure mounted owing to the global website outage caused by the implementors of the ban. While the authorities still claim that the outage was caused by mistake not design, it still remains to be seen how Google Inc would pursue the matter.

Likewise the Electronic Media Regulatory Authority here also loosened its grip on the television channels. Not only the pressure on Aaj TV has been reduced, Geo Television also managed to bring on air anchor Hamid Mir banned by the authorities for months. Hope is gaining ground in Pakistan that other banned but popular anchors will soon be restored too. The change of heart in Islamabad is also being attributed to the international pressure and the unity displayed by the world media against the ban. Our moles in the establishment are also praising Blogger News Network for bringing the issue to the world attention and by doing so forcing the authorities to ease its censorship. (See BNN’s story Musharraf’s Inquisition: Reason Why YouTube Was Blocked In Pakistan).

The YouTube ban however has thus far not been lifted nationwide. While PTCL’s internet service is allowing the site to be accessed, other major service providers like Link.Net continue to block the site.

The author is a Pakistani television journalist and commentator on security and media affairs. He can be reached through his website www.pitafi.com/weblog