Another day, another ban here in Pakistan.
In the past 20 days, there have been either bans or news of “considering” bans. 1st July was a black day for all PUBG players living here, then came the news that TikTok was given the ‘final’ warning and was ordered to take down all vulgar content. VPN will be banned by the end of this month.
What’s new is that the Supreme Court of Pakistan has hinted banning (more like gave remarks) of YouTube in the country. Given the reason that it is a platform where videos and information circulate without any check so it lends a hand in promoting or spreading hate among not only the different sects living in Pakistan but also against the Religion, Government, Army and the Judiciary, which is completely unacceptable. PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority) was asked what they could do, given the case. And turns out that they can only report the objectionable/ insensitive content and not remove it. Notices are issued by the Court to a couple concerning departments.
Majority of Pakistani public is against this ban. YouTube was banned in the past too (for about 3 years) but those were different times and today, YouTube is a vital part of our lives! It not only aids students and knowledge seekers in their studies but is also a source of income for many. It is a major source of entertainment for most people.
To conclude, although the issues mentioned by the Court are genuine, I think that during these modern times, it’s best to find a solution for these problems and NOT create these problems. And this ban is going to do us more bad than good as it is a source of development for our country.
Many countries regulate their content and view it before uploading it. We should also adopt such a policy, make laws against such content and content makers, and work on improving ourselves and revive our moral and ethical values. Banning is not a solution and is never going to be! It’s us that we have to work on.
