The firewall Controversy: Internet Censorship in Real or its Just Blockade of Obscene Material?

firewallAs the advertisement by the National ICT R&D got published in the leading newspapers recently, seeking solution providers for URL level blocking and filtering of “objectionable” material on the internet, the debate on internet censorship has been widespread amid civil society activists expressing doubts over authorities’ intentions to limit internet freedom for public on political grounds.

Majority of the people support the authorities to block obscene material on internet for protecting society – particularly growing up students from the menace; whereas there are people who have expressed their reservations over the mechanism of this plan that may be exploited for massive censorship to suppress the public freedom of expression in case of any political opposition.

Full Disclosure

Before starting discussion we want to let you know that ProPakistani supports this national level, centralized, URL filtering system – having said this, we will oppose any censorship, for any medium, based on political grounds. We also believe that people of Pakistan are free to express and have all the abilities to stop any censorship efforts, if ever made.

What this National Level URL Filtering will do?

This highly hyped URL filtering system is an effort to centralize the blockade process of adult websites, which is currently being done manually at individual level by ISPs. So theoretically there’s nothing new. No new rules, no new policy.

Its just the enhanced form of making those websites inaccessible which are of adult nature.

Currently, PTA regularly sends a list of URLs to ISPs to get them blocked. ISPs in return block these websites through their own means using their own staff and resources.

After National level URL filtering system in place, this current procedure will be replaced with a centralized team taking care of blocking websites at international gateway level, eliminating the resource loss of ISPs.

Again: By definition there’s nothing new being implemented.

Why Adult Websites are Blocked?

You might ask me, especially if you are not from Pakistan and aren’t familiar with the background of the case, that why adult websites are blocked in Pakistan?

To recall, there was this verdict issued by Sindh High Court (SHC) in October 2011 to PTA to get adult websites blocked. Based on which Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) directed all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block 1,000 explicit sites in the first phase.

The high court issued its verdict after hearing of a petition filled by Syed Iqbal Kazmi, who submitted that obscene material, websites were easily available on the internet, which are spoiling our youth and social norms.

Besides a long struggle was seen by a 15-year-old 9th grader, Ghazi Muhammad Abdullah, who had repeatedly written letters to the Chief Justice, Minister of IT and PTA to take notice of the adult websites, which were easily and freely accessible in Pakistan.

These were merely two cases raised properly and highlighted in the media but the demand was backed by and large all parents and educated people regardless of ideology and liberal and conservative divide as a matter of fact the repercussions of explicit websites are destroying our society moral values and increasing heinous crimes.

What if You Don’t Like the Blockade?

Courts’ rulings are primarily based on constitution, evidences and arguments presented by the parties. To further add, Pakistani courts are independent. Unlike in many countries, Pakistani courts aren’t influenced by the Government or mafia groups. This is evident from facts that court has indicted Prime Minister of Pakistan, while in another ongoing case intelligence agencies are being questioned by judiciary.

So if you don’t like a decision, very fine, its your right to oppose it. In addition you have every right to try reversing the decision, but there’s a procedure to follow.

File a review petition, its simple, go there and request for a review. Doors are open. But once a verdict is issued, try respecting it.

This is exactly like France banning veil. It was state order, based on their constitution. Anyone living in France will have to follow it – regardless of his/her objections over ruling. If one can’t (or doesn’t want to) follow the ban – she’s free to travel to a country where veil isn’t banned. Simple as that.

Need for National Level URL Filtering System

As mentioned above, due to high court order, PTA was bound to get the orders implemented.

Initially order to block websites having obscene content was followed by all ISPs, Broadband operators, Cellular Operators, LDI Operators but the mechanism was manual and could be breached through software/proxy websites.

A meeting held at PTA headquarters on October 27th 2011, according to a document made available to ProPakistani, the authority and ISPs, Cellcos, Broadband and LDI operators attended the meeting.

They believed that the blockade should be expanded to 171,000 websites, estimated to have explicit content but it needed a foolproof system to be deployed as a comprehensive solution.

The authority and all service providers after consensus had been on the same page to block all such websites at international gateway level, that is, at the end of IP backbone (PTCL and TWA) through National Filtering and Blocking System/Solution.

There were two proposals tabled – one was to buy an imported solution from foreign companies, which could cost around $2 and $10 million initially and then maintenance cost with recurring charges every year.

PTA, however, decided to provide opportunity to universities and local firms for developing a proposed solution, which the National ICT R&D will supervise and finance because all of its budget is generated by telecom operators and IT companies.

Secondly, authority and all stake holders there in meeting thought that an opportunity should be given to local talent for unleashing their potential through development of state-of-art solution.

Opposition for National Level URL Filtering System

Activists, I wonder what they specialize in, are up against the URL filtering system with following objections:

  • Access to uncensored internet is basic human right
  • Blocking of 50 million website will slow down down internet in Pakistan
  • National ICT R&D fund shouldn’t be used for financing this project. ICT R&D is supposed to support IT, not to fund such a project.
  • Authorities will start blocking websites on political grounds
  • Pakistan will get negative publicity due to this censorship

Here are my responses to above mentioned points:

Uncensored Internet is so rare:

You will have to agree with me that completely uncensored internet is a rare luxury to have. Every state/country has standards and rules (based on its ideology and social norms) for restricting its internet users from viewing specific content.

Even developed countries like USA, UK, France and others consider censorship of topics that are held to be antithetical as accepted societal norms. For instance censorship of child pornography, hate speech, hate crime, terrorism, violence against people, animals, or property, etc. is globally practiced.

These countries, however, allow pornography after certain age, unlike our religion which doesn’t allow it all.

Similarly, any material on internet for denial of holocaust is considered criminal – in at least two dozen countries.

Hence, if I may speak frankly, uncensored internet is quite impossible to find.

Adult websites are blocked in Pakistan (though its not fully implemented, and this is why National URL filtering system is needed), just like they are not allowed in other forms of media. For example you won’t find adult material on TV just because PEMRA wouldn’t allow it.

You will have to live with it, weather you like it or not. This country simply doesn’t allow porn, and that’s it. My sincere advise to those who can’t live without porn is to relocate to a place where such activities are allowed.

National Firewall will slow down Internet in Pakistan:

Technically speaking it will impact. No doubt about it. Latency will increase – but it’s the architecture of firewall that will exactly determine the size of delay the firewall will cause.

Technical experts, I have spoken with so far, are of the opinion that impact can’t be gauged at this point of time. They agreed that mission critical assignments (those that can’t afford delay of milliseconds) will be impacted for sure. For general internet user there won’t be any change in life.

Will Pakistan get negative publicity due to this censorship?

Of course yes, due to those attention seekers, who like to be called liberal and activists, running to western media to oppose this blocking system. They are already calling it Great Firewall of Pakistan, according to some, even without reading the RFP (request for proposal).

Western media is always looking for stories against Pakistan, due to reasons obvious to everyone, and how shameful that we ourselves twist the facts to give them the opportunity.

Let’s take the example of Facebook ban last year. Pakistan could easily tell the world that banning Facebook was due to Facebook’s discriminatory behavior and its clear support for the Drawing content.

Pakistan could tell the world that Facebook violated its own TOS, which clearly mentions that hatred speech isn’t allowed. It could tell the world that this country has a blasphemy law (just like so many other countries have their own format of blasphemy laws) that bounds the authorities to get this content banned to the people living in the state. Anyone outside is of course free to access it.

But it didn’t happen this way, in fact these same activists went to western media telling them how miserable their condition was because they couldn’t access Facebook. Even our Chairman PTA couldn’t defend the ban and said that authority simply executed the order passed by court – authority (is so noble and it) has nothing to do with the decision. I mean come’on sir, you could defend our dignity.

Can authorities block websites on political grounds?

Yes they can! But remember, we are only assuming this. Like I mentioned above, internet blocking is already in place – but did you see any website getting banned based on political grounds? One example of a ban last year, which is being referenced by everyone, was due to a technical glitch at Mobilink Infinity.

Yes, there are websites blocked – those advocating for freedom of Balochistan. Which I believe is a matter of national security and is being dealt with diligence.

You will agree that Pakistan is a free nation and Pakistanis are free to say anything against anyone, without involving national security and religion.

Pakistani media is free and private. You will see Kamran Khan shouting against ruling party every night. And he will stay this way – just because we are free.

I myself criticize government so heavily that once I opined of throwing Rehman Malik under the bus.

Don’t worry guys, if you can get Maya Khan out of a show, then you can also stop any censorship efforts by government – just like you stopped SMS fileting.

Why National ICT R&D Fund is used for National Filtering System?

Decision was made to get ICT R&D fund involved because government wanted to give opportunity to local universities and local firms for the this sophisticated deployment.

Instead of buying a solution from abroad, it was best option to avail indigenous resources.

Sweetening the National URL Filtering

Room for betterment in any implementation is always there. The process of blocking adult website could definitely be enhanced. Here are few proposals from ProPakistani

  • PTA should publish the list of blocked websites, detailing if block is temporary or permanent
  • PTA should also specify the reasons for blocking a website
  • Mechanism should be devised for the public for reconsideration/review of PTA’s decision of blocking any website
  • Similarly, PTA should also devise a way for public to report inappropriate websites – that they think should be blocked.

There is a dire need of consensus on this issue required, particularly over the assurance that the proposed system will not be misused politically reasons.

The National ICT R&D consists of representation of private sector as well, which can monitor the systems utility in future also and raise objections if National URL Blocking and Filtering System is exploited or misused.

A committee could be constituted with members inducted from government, private sector and rights groups that can monitor the working of the system in future.


    • you should read the article again bcoz it says that the delay will be of milliseconds which will not effect general users !!

  • Blocking sites is totally useless bcoz those who are good at using computer would use proxy to watch porns others would buy porn cds(easily available in market) and small fraction of despos would go and rape innocent childern and helpless girls.Thus only increasing the number of sexual assaults in Pakistan.I say porn sites should not be blocked those in favour say Aye!!

    • 100 agree. there is difference between SIN and CRIME. you can not enforce SIN’s!!!!!!!!

      people in Pakistan are so extremist and hypocrite.

    • All these heinous crimes are generated by internet, CDs, DVDs etc. All these things are newly created. Before the invention of internet, CDs and DVDs the world was free of such heinous crimes. It’s advent by history that Genghis Khan and his army was corrupted by internet websites, CDs, DVDs and books. That’s why he and his army murdered millions and raped millions of women. We need to learn from history. The most biggest culprit are books. We need to burn books just like Nazi Germany did. That’s the key to stop all these non-sense things and only after this we, as a nation will progress together just like Nazi Germany did in just 10 years.

      • “Before the invention of internet, CDs and DVDs the world was free of such heinous crimes”

        ->You can’t disagree that internet has made them lot easier.

    • Locks are usually not meant for thieves. Experts will be able to beat this firewall, that’s fine. You can’t stop them anyway. But imagine how many still will stay away?

      About CDs, DVDs – PTA/Minister of IT (the one we are focusing now) can’t take care of it. You need to go to the concerned dept for that.

      • This implementation is meant for masses based on greater interest, and there is room for improvement everywhere, so it can also be handled by making people aware of explicit material’s adverse effects. There should be some literary move to avoid its harmful effects.

        • Are you the person who can explain to me why rollingstone.com is blocked in Pakistan? All because of one article?

          Is the article a lie? Time and Newsweek publish similar articles all the time and they are not blocked.

          Or is the problem that the article was TRUE in nature? Hmm, that poses a problem, because Pakistan’s current filtering system is blocking an article the government/military DOES NOT WANT YOU TO SEE.

          Do you think such blocks will increase with a filtering system, or decrease?

          Maybe you don’t remember, but when wikileaks started publishing two years ago, someone petitioned LHC to have it blocked, and the judge (fortunately fortunately) refused.

  • so what will be the fate of torrent and file-sharing web sites that have ALL KINDS OF STUFF ???? and should they make a site where false positive websites should be reported

  • Completely agreed… Atleast the activists should think that they have to die one day… It was aweful to read comments on last post of providing list to PTA…

    • …only “activists” will die? But no one else will die and have to answers his/her deeds? How about answering about corruption in Pakistan and everything bad thing we do by giving logic of “everybody else do it then why can’t I do it?” From giving bribe to traffic policeman to driving government given car for personal use and what-not. Corrupt people = Corrupt government.

      By the way, allow me to correct the word “activists”. Article writer should have wrote “opponents”, not “activists”.

      • How about answering about corruption in Pakistan and everything bad thing we do by giving logic of “everybody else do it then why can’t I do it?”

        -> That’s exactly how you are justifying your logic. Since we can’t stop corruption, let’s close our eyes to adult websites as well

  • heera mandi to band nahi kar saktay lekin sms+internet zaroor censor karein gay ftw

    • Red light areas, like Heera Mandi can’t be closed. I am against red light areas but whenever I argue with someone to close it they give logic that “it allow young men to focus on these bad women rather corrupting girls of noble families”.

  • Really..that’s your line of reasoning? If any body wants to access a blocked website, they can use proxy sites like vtunnel.com or use Tor to encrypt and bypass all filters.

    There is absolutely no evidence that pornography has caused an increase in crimes or torn the social fabric. Wasting money on the filtering system will result in nothing but political censorship which is already happening. If you work for an ISP, you will know which websites are blocked.

    The state has no right to enforce morality on the individual as long as it does not interfere with someone else’s right to live. Your examples of US and UK are flawed: child pornography is banned because it’s a crime against children.

    I am absolutely disappointed with the kind of thought process that you have expressed in the name of protecting values and religion which shall both suffer in the longer term.

    • You, sir, are mistaken. You and your small group of “activists” (err… opponents) need to leave Pakistan. As the logic given in this article, if you don’t like France then leave France. So, leave Pakistan, now. That’s an order. Otherwise live the life as mullahs tell you to do so.

      As for the logic of by passing using proxy. This can be easily solved. Pass a bill through National Assembly to make it a crime if someone found using VPN or Tor to bypass this national filtering system. Police can easily raid any net-cafe, office or home if someone mention that he/she saw the violation of the law of using VPN or Tor or any other proxy. I purpose at least a life sentence of 15 years if someone found using VPN/Tor/Proxy to access any of these websites, especially in the case of net-cafes.

      State and 15 year olds have full right to tell others how to live. Especially those people who are Western educated.

      Next step: we need to create our of Pakistani chapter of Boko Haram. Ban all Western education and shun all Western things. That’s the only solution to protect our society from evil doing of Western society. I am throwing away this computer after this post. Hell with the Western countries and their culture.

    • “If any body wants to access a blocked website, they can use proxy sites like vtunnel.com or use Tor to encrypt and bypass all filters”

      -> Locks are usually not meant for thieves. Experts will be able to beat this firewall, that’s fine. You can’t stop them anyway. But imagine how many still will stay away?

      “There is absolutely no evidence that pornography has caused an increase in crimes or torn the social fabric.”

      -> I believe if something is prohibited by religion(s) then it will have some grounds. You probably need to consult more researches.

      “Your examples of US and UK are flawed: child pornography is banned because it’s a crime against children.”

      -> If you know, watching adult is SIN.

      • While you are entitled to your opinion, I am absolutely gutted to see your lack of understanding of individual freedom, free speech and religion. You are now deciding what’s a sin and how people are ought to behave?

        Show me one study which can correlate increased crime and rape in Pakistan with internet. The onus of proof is on you since you asserted the claim.

        It’s a shame how we lose objectivity and become irrational whenever we get a chance to enforce our opinion on people. Rather than presenting an unbiased view, you chose to take the “moral high ground” by stating a flawed premises and backing it up with ludicrous references to religion and your understanding of the society.

        I have been an avid reader of your blog and I expected a significantly better understanding from you. However, as someone else pointed out, things have come full circle following the Facebook boycott.

      • I quote you:

        “These countries, however, allow pornography after certain age, unlike our religion which doesn’t allow it all.”

        “I believe if something is prohibited by religion(s) then it will have some grounds. You probably need to consult more researches.”

        I think this is unfair. You are putting some basic assumptions in your article and then in the above comment and then asking the reader that they should validate those assumptions. You should place some solid facts on the table to prove that these verdicts that you get from religion are valid, burden of proof should not be on the reader. Your just assuming that if religion says something then it would surely have some grounds is again quite lame and not befitting you.

      • — I believe if something is prohibited by religion(s) then it will have some grounds. You probably need to consult more researches.

        Very interesting viewpoint, about prohibited by religion. So I ask you: if it is prohibited by Islam but not minority religion, should it be blocked from all? What about the rights of the minorities? You want them all to leave?

        Yes or no, please.

  • – Yes, block porn. I have no questions about that. Impact of porn might be insignificant in West. All researches were done THERE. not HERE.
    OUR people go out of control almost instantly. Even if just one girl is saved from any untoward situation, the filter will be worth it.
    – Amir, have you ever played online multiplayer games of FPS genre? Even a few ms ping difference can destroy the gaming experience. Our pings to our exactly neighboring countries are already high. Lets throw in a firewall as well without pushing ISPs to finally start doing something about QOS.
    – Will courts issue an order barring govt. or agencies to refrain from eavesdropping normal internet communication? I do not think so.
    – Will blackberry internet services be permanently banned?
    – Have we dealt with internet cafes, cd markets etc? Do we have any laws in place?
    Heck, you can kill someone in an event of an accident and walk free after 6 months :)
    – Have we dealt with late night sms and call packages? Frankly, who needs ’em anyway? vampires?
    – Have we educated our elders about the perils of internet age? They are the closest to their kids. Right?
    – We are going to make a gun and hand it over to Govt. They will be free to point it at anyone – innocent or culprit alike.
    – Are our judges educated enough to talk about computers’ world? I do not think they. They are as computer literate as street hawkers.
    – Lets not debate religion here. Porn is more of a social problem than religious issue.
    As a foot note, Islam asks parents to arrange marriage for their kids once they are baligh. Guess what? people keep waiting for around 30 years either willingly or unwillingly.
    God gave us a viable solution to the problem centuries ago. Our society is not only blind but also brain dead. I can only hope for its easier death.

    • >Heck, you can kill someone in an event of an accident and walk free after 6 months :)
      I can walk freely even if after murder I submit myself to police and admit I did it. I just need to put it under the subject of “honor killing”. If all else fails then under the b-word law. That’s it, I’ll be a free man. :)

      >OUR people go out of control almost instantly
      Alas! If we had these filters in place then Genghis Khan and his army wouldn’t have raped millions of women. The current mass rape and genocide in Africa is due to unfiltered internet access. I heard that Africans collect woods and dry leaves from miles and burn it to produce just enough electricity to visit at least one or two porn webpages which is enough for them for mass rape and murder for next couple of weeks.

      >Have we dealt with late night sms and call packages? Frankly, who needs ‘em anyway? vampires?
      How dare you to say that? Those packages are for Tahajid-guzar people. Why can’t they communicate when they woke up in night for Tahajid? You’ll burn in hell.

      >Are our judges educated enough to talk about computers’ world? I do not think they. They are as computer literate as street hawkers.
      You are in contempt of court. Accept the decision of noble and highly educated court or leave Pakistan.

      >As a foot note, Islam asks parents to arrange marriage for their kids once they are baligh. Guess what? people keep waiting for around 30 years either willingly or unwillingly.
      How dare you to go against mullahs. You have to marry your daughters and sisters at the age of 13 (average age of puberty in Pakistan) to a mullah. Otherwise you’ll burn in hell.

      • “I can walk freely even if after murder I submit myself to police and admit I did it. I just need to put it under the subject of “honor killing”.”

        ->One wrong doesn’t justify that you shouldn’t stop another wrong.

        “How dare you to say that? Those packages are for Tahajid-guzar people. Why can’t they communicate when they woke up in night for Tahajid? You’ll burn in hell”

        -> You aren’t so funny. If you please hit the search box to see how much we oppose night packages.

  • Courts are not god, and people disagree with courts in different countries all the time. So all the “Taliban type and so called true lovers of islam”, don’t tell us that we should respect court’s decision or not. And there is no evidence that internet porn is causing ills in society.

    • You sir are wrong. History is full of evidence that all major mass murdering and mass rape in history is due to internet, CDs, DVDs, books, magazines. Especially the books. That’s why I purpose to burn the books, along with total ban on internet, CDs, DVDs, cable-TV, computers. Boko Haram is the only way of living that is acceptable. Everything Western is haram.

      You can consult history to know the illicit nature of internet and books. It is known that Adolf Hitler got corrupted in his teens by visiting BDSM porn websites and by reading history books about Prussia and Spanish Inquisition which lead to his BDSM. Only if at that time Germany had implemented that URL filtering at national level then they would have saved millions of people. Germany tried by burning books but it was too late and Hitler had captured the power by that time.

      By the way, have you not read the reports published that mass rape and genocide currently going on in different parts of Africa is due to internet’s bad websites?

      >Courts are not god, and people disagree with courts in different countries all the time.
      In other countries, not in Pakistan where it is contempt of court if you disagree in public (on newspaper, TV etc.). By the way, you are also committing blasphemy here. I can murder you right now and become a hero. You are warned.

  • And I am sorry, there is no censorship of internet. There are tons of hate material on the internet. There are tons of anti-jews, anti-israel, anti-holocaust pages, so I don’t know where propakistani gets its facts from. I can post some if u like. Child pronography is banned because it is violating the freedom of that children for using them for sex. I wonder if you would also rally against hateful sites by radical islamic organizations and sectarian outfits. I don’t think you would.

    • You sir are again wrong. Everyone knows that USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany and “two dozens countries” that our fried mentioned in his article have already banned the Stormfront website. Oh wait, why am I wrong here?

      >I wonder if you would also rally against hateful sites by radical islamic organizations and sectarian outfits.
      How dare you to say that? You are committing blasphemy here. Be warn, you won’t even know when the bullet hits you or do I say the suicide bomber hits you.

      Well the problem is that they did a survey and found that when given choice between following two:
      1) “reading fanatic materials on internet. how to get recruited. their current achievements with daily counter of killing innocent humans. messages from their top leaders and mullahs who give fatwas who allow suicide bombing and killing of innocent humans and with the promise of 72 virgins etc. etc.”
      2) Porn websites

      Shockingly, young Pakistanis (like the rest of the world), found it curious to visit porn in their free time. The solution was simple and very effective. Just ban the porn websites. Voila, the first choice becomes clear and focused. Just imagine how much we can achieve if our young Pakistanis only have first choice. Our brilliant young minds can group together to create jackets, fuses, exploding materials and new ways to deliver it. The future is so bright.

      By the way, there is nothing in porn. I mean, why they need to learn about sexuality. I mean, isn’t it already taught in our education system? Oh wait, what?

  • Really sad to see this kind of an article on ProPakistani. I really respect this blog and have been a regular reader but I’m really disappointed by this post.

    Kind of draws back to a full circle of your No Facebook policy of the past years, but at least you had a good reason that time.

    No person or entity should have the right to dictate what kind of information others can access. If you are okay with that, then you are probably okay with a full blown dictatorship as well.

    And I don’t support any kind of ban on any kind service and by your analogy of ban Child pornography in the US, should we assume that prostitution and strip clubs should be legalized in Pakistan because they aren’t banned in the US as well?

    • Uzair, thanks for your comment. I respect your thoughts.

      I ve 2 things to say:

      – you don’t want any one to restrict access to information, fairly so. But as per this definition TV channels should also start airing adult content. Point is that every society has norms, and rules are made based on those norms and beliefs.

      – I don’t want our government to follow US and allow strip clubs, again my purpose for referring to child Sex was based upon a fact that they consider it crime and hence disallowed it. Similarly we have our own cultural and religious beliefs, which should drive our ways of life.

      P.S. I expressed my thoughts using my right to express myself. Similarly, you have every right to think otherwise.

      • I am sorry but your logic lacks depth. Comparing TV with internet browsing is apples to oranges. Browsing vs telecast. I’m sure I do not need to explain it further.

        P.S. you can have adult channels on TV if you wish to – on satellites that are NOT blocked – but that’s irrelevant to the discussion.

        Your second point is useless too. It’s “piracy vs stealing” all over again. Even if you just stay short-sighted and think the whole purpose of this filtration is just to block porn – how can you compare porn (pixels?) to live (and perhaps more dangerous) nature of a strip club? Again, apples and oranges.

        • “Comparing TV with internet browsing is apples to oranges”

          -> I was comparing the rules, not the mediums. And same applies to your second paragraph

      • @Admin
        I wonder why are comparing Internet with other mediums.e.g TV
        Internet has the proper system, and one can easily filter it @home/personal level, while TV Channels can’t be filtered this way, unless you’ve a good parental control system.

  • Nice article.
    “Freedome is the name of some restrictions.”
    I fully support this firewall thing.

  • I am more than a regular viewer of propakistani blog and a great fan of their telecom and IT blog post but this post is a trespassing into a completely different subject unrelated to the mission statement of the blog. I am extremely disappointed to read views of Aamir. I really like him for his integrity and commitment to standards of quality in relation to articles on this blog. But I strongly disagree with him here. Government or any one should not be an authority to decide morals for others especially morals for my bedroom. State should only be concerned with those acts of mine which violate other people’s rights. Whatever I do in my bedroom is my personal matter and state should not be an adviser or a moral brigade invading my freedom and privacy. I don’t see any study that would correlate viewing of illicit content with increase in crime rates like rape etc. We should go straight towards the problem not beat about the bush. In fact, viewing of illicit content on internet is the mildest way to fulfill this physical and physiological need which otherwise can result in the person raping others or increase in animal sex as is the case in villages. This way the man/woman retains their self respect as well as cause no harm to the society. Even if you block the websites you cannot stop people from going to net cafes made specifically for such kind of contents or buying CDs/DVDs from secret but abundant shops.

    Government, doing this, is not the solution. They don’t even understand the problem and its nature. They are just ill educated and fake degree holder politicians and don’t understand that how the human body functions and how much important and dominant these sexual feelings are. They fail to understand that you cannot veil or suppress these feelings otherwise they come out in more violent manifestations.
    As for the political exploitation of this so called firewall, yes it is quite possible and probable that they would misuse it. Aamir’s comparison that this thing already exists in that the ISPs are asked to block rather the government doing it themselves is quite lame. Currently the blocking process is long, cumbersome and involves directly the ISP, so censorship is very difficult for the government. After this ‘firewall’ is in government’s hand, censorship would be a lot easier and you don’t know what would come under this umbrella because we don’t expect any transparency from our government.

    @Aamir..I hope you would publish my comment..

    • A.S. We don’t filter any thing. Feel free to comment whatever you have in mind. We will publish it with pleasure.

      Actually you missed the whole point. About allowing or disallowing adult content is something that has been decided by court. We can oppose it (I don’t) but it wasn’t the main discussion.

      My opinion circulated around the implementation of of filtering system which will enhance the abilities of regulator to get the order implemented.

      • My reply was in response to the ‘blocking of adult websites’ part of your article and based on your stance on the same issue in your previous blog posts. The other part of my reply was in response to your saying that it would not be a new thing as government is all ready doing that in a different way.

  • My answers to this article. Warning: Answers could be bitter, swallow with some sugar.

    >”Before starting discussion we want to let you know that ProPakistani supports this national level, centralized, URL filtering system”
    = As expected, a biased website that deliver news. Nothing new, many news websites are biased and they boast about it.

    >”The high court issued its verdict after hearing of a petition filled by Syed Iqbal Kazmi, who submitted that obscene material, websites were easily available on the internet, which are spoiling our youth and social norms.”
    = I find books, TV, cable-TV, movies available on DVDs, newspapers, magazines are also spoiling our youth and social norms. But then again, I am not a mullah sitting in Sindh High Court.

    >”Unlike in many countries, Pakistani courts aren’t influenced by the Government or mafia groups.”
    = Oh wait, they are not influenced by mullahs and fanatic Muslims. Nevermind.

    >”So if you don’t like a decision, very fine, its your right to oppose it.”
    = Of course, we have to obey their decision. I am not interested in living in jail by contempt of court.

    >”This is exactly like France banning veil. It was state order, based on their constitution. Anyone living in France will have to follow it – regardless of his/her objections over ruling. If one can’t (or doesn’t want to) follow the ban – she’s free to travel to a country where veil isn’t banned. Simple as that.”
    = So by this logic, if French start committing suicide by jumping into water-well then we’ll do same too? Pretty nice logic you have given. Now we need to find some guillotines. Since we are following France, we definitely going to need guillotines. I don’t think I need to elaborate about French revolution, do I? When common French farmers put heads of all royal and bourgeoisie, including gentry, court judges, religious leaders and so called “educated” class.

    >”Activists, I wonder what they specialize in…”
    = People in favor, I wonder what they specialize in?

    >”Access to uncensored internet is basic human right”
    = Let me correct you here, access to uncensored information is a basic human right. Internet is just a medium to deliver that information, which is already available in books, magazines, DVDs, TV, cable-TV etc.

    >”Western media is always looking for stories against Pakistan, due to reasons obvious to everyone, and how shameful that we ourselves twist the facts to give them the opportunity.”
    = Darn, I didn’t knew that I was always wrong that suicide bombing was a negative thing. Shame on us by giving Western media an opportunity to defame us. Westerns doesn’t know that suicide bombing is just another extreme sport. We need to build our own Boko Haram. Oh wait, we already have.

    >”PTA should publish the list of blocked websites, detailing if block is temporary or permanent”
    = Why would PTA need to publish that list at all? It should be kept secret. Even giving out list will let common people know that such websites exists and many can visit such websites using that list.

    >”PTA should also specify the reasons for blocking a website”
    Why PTA need to explain it. It is very easy to explain:
    1) Website was found explicit in nature and can be deemed harmful for society.
    2) Website is against National Security.
    By above two reasons, I covered all reasons. In fact, “National Security” is enough as it covers everything. USA is using this logic (“National Security”) to reduce basic rights of its citizens.

    >”Mechanism should be devised for the public for reconsideration/review of PTA’s decision of blocking any website”
    Why waste time and energy on this, just block the darn websites. Court has already ordered it. Don’t waste time or it will be contempt of court.

    >”Similarly, PTA should also devise a way for public to report inappropriate websites – that they think should be blocked.”
    Don’t worry about that. Many of 15 years old will happily supply URLs to PTA. Oh wait, they are already doing it. What else we need.

    ——————–

    After reading this article by Aamir Attaa, you have opened my eyes. You have changed my opinion. I am now convinced that we should implement this centralized filtering system. In fact, we should implement it by our own country’s talent. And after achieving a good job at it, which I hope we can do if we are determine to do it, then we can also help other Muslim countries with this system. This way we can earn valuable foreign exchange by exporting this system. Not to mention that by helping other Muslim countries we’ll earn good deeds and good name among Muslim societies around the world.

    We Pakistanis can achieve anything if we are united and if are determine to achieve it. We shouldn’t care about the Western world. Remember, they didn’t still accept our Nuclear Armaments. We need to do what we find fit for ourselves. InsAllah, we can deliver this system within months with top-notch technology. May Allah be with all of us.

    • “As expected, a biased website that deliver news. Nothing new, many news websites are biased and they boast about it”

      ->If you are familiar with forms of writings then opinion is usually biased. Its something that one feels like, something which comes out of your heart. And it can be biased. Disclosure was to further help you understand our standing.

      During reporting news on this website, we try to remain remain as un-biased as possible.

      ” I find books, TV, cable-TV, movies available on DVDs, newspapers, magazines are also spoiling our youth and social norms. But then again, I am not a mullah sitting in Sindh High Court.”

      -> Our discussion was related to internet here. For sure DVDs, CDs and books of such types are creating issues.

      Again, from what I get, you are tying to say that If X is wrong then we don’t have any right to rectify another wrong Y.

      ” Oh wait, they are not influenced by mullahs and fanatic Muslims. Nevermind.”

      -> You can be right here

      “So by this logic, if French start committing suicide by jumping into water-well then we’ll do same too?”

      -> You altogether missed the point. My argument was that public is suppose to obey the law, whatever it is. If you don’t like a law/regulation then you are free to change your state.

      “Shame on us by giving Western media an opportunity to defame us. Westerns doesn’t know that suicide bombing is just another extreme sport.”

      -> Yes suicide bombing has defames us enough. Let’s not give them more chances (ourselves) for ridiculing us further.

      Your rest of comment, i believe, doesn’t require my response.

      I appreciate you for sharing your thoughts

      • i agree with you admin and if some one has a problem they should go to the court and seek answers themselves or else learn to live with it, but i have my reservation, i am just afraid that this could lead to a whole lot of trouble later on frustrated young youth (boys/men) becoming sexual predators and gng after women or girls of younger age.

        Already they cant control any crime and you know very well how our legal system is at the mercy of such ppl there is nothing or no one to stop them and we just sit here and argue like childeren all the time.

        in my opinion they should not hv imposed this as at all but only god knows what type of miscreants we have out there on the streets and within our legal system who made this in the first place and access to internet is basic right for everyone, u want to watch ok you dont want to watch just dont go there nobody is forcing your hand or your mind to do so.

  • It is disgusting to see so many sweeping generalization this article makes. The ‘holier than thou’ approach needs to be go away with.

    Why the sudden urgency to implement “censorship” in an election year? Fine, ban all the “adult websites” but what will we do when they start banning stuff as random as Odesk.com or Guru.com. Do you still remember the era when you could not blog on Blogspot? Furthermore, it was some weeks back when WordPress was blocked.

    Problem lies both with censorship and its transparency. “Holocaust Denial” is indeed a controversial subject but it does not justify “censorship.” A corrupt government as today’s will censor a lot more than “adult websites.”

  • ProPakistani waale jhooti khabrein dete hyn, inn ki koie khabr aaj tak sach nahin huie, iss se pehle ProPakistani waaloun ne kaha tha ke SMS pe abusive words ban ho jayen gay, aur apni tarf se keywords ki list bhi khud bnaa ke lga di aur naam PTA ka lga diya, aur baad mein keh diya ke PTA ne SMS abusive keywords pe ban lgaaney se inkaar krdiya hy, huh! ProPakistani ki koie khabr aaj tak sach nahin huie, apni taraf se jhooti khabren lgaate hyn

  • i want to discuss one point . . that if you stop the adult site then the boys will become sex attackers and the rape ratio will increase . .
    i really feel pity for this type of thinking. .

    why will their sex be increased and they will become sex offenders . . tell me one thing why today a child of 10 11 years knows everything about sex and puberty age is decreased . . its all because of media and mainly internet . . internet is instant way to get adult material . . and it affects your memory then every time you see a girl you instantly gets sexual thoughts rather than to look below as according to teaching of Quran . .

    i agree there are other means of getting porn but that is risky and you have to bypass your parents . . eg you can’t spend time in net cafe without notice of your parents . . same as to get and hide the cd dvd. . . you afraid that someone will see it . . so usually you restrain from those things

    . . but in internet just close the website and clear history and cache and you have no fear of being caught . .
    and those saying that it should be open anyone want so if will get it and those don’t want will not visit it . . fine but first give proper islamic teachings to parents as well children and tell them the norms and respect of islam. . then judge them . .

    in net shul blocking the adult sites will atleast save those who are not expert in computers to bypass the firewall and have no access to other means . . as this world is dar-ul-asbab so to stop something stop its way (sabab)

    • Ok! than, we should also ban other source of enternainment aswell other action flicks which include english movies/indian and so, so other channels and other source of media and entertainment aswell in Pakistan because ppl and our youth are getting influenced and are joining these gangs, the corrpupted poiliticians and their goons, robberies and murders are on the rise you and i are not even safe to walk the streets with a mobile phone or carry money, women are not safe to wear jewllery, people go to their jobs thinking like they are gng to war every morning fear, of death to say prayer in a mosque, in madersa where instead of teaching Islam your so called (DAR-UL-SABAB) where these very mullahs are required to teach Islam are molesting young boys and girls and they get away with it,in the very same place where they teach or are required to teach your DAR-UL-SABA/ SABAB in islam the so called madersas, they keep childeren locked in chains and torture them on a daily basis and make them do manual child labour your (DAR-UL-SABAB) again, the madersa where mullah’s are required to teach Islam and your Dar-Ul-Sabab are brain washing them to become terrorists. Women being put to the sword with the riwaj of zinda-dargor/waanee/throwing of acid on face or body/blamed and murdered for mens own future motives and saying it was done in the name of honour/and even raped in some cases, your dar-ul- sabab/sabab, again.
      Honestly, please, honestly tell me in your heart are these not enough of a proof for everyone, have we been living with our eyes closed since the birth of a nation called Pakistan? Why dont and why cant we first clean up the mess that has done major damage like harbouring terrorists and so many of things above i’ve mentioned then we call it Pakistan, The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, where no one is above the law, where a thief’s hand is cut off and murderer’s and drug dealers or terrorist is off with his head, dying like a chicken on the road an example made to all those who enjoy and induldge in such hienous crimes and get away with it on political and other influential basis and do even more harm, then i will say it the meaning of your (SABAB/STOP) will be understood otherwise your argument is irrelevant. first try to save Pakistan in this manner and stop this which we all are blind to the above atrocities on all men and women, young boys and girls, happening in real time in our face in our country.
      Well i guess this is just another poilitical propaganda of the Govt. and some one said earlier in their comments that, Ghengiz khan raped 20000 or so women with his band of thugs, i guess he and his bunch happy go luck gang bangers were big porn fan’s aswell LMAO!…nuff said, now just think about it a bit.

      • i really shocked to see your comment . . you even don’t know what is Dar-ul-sabab . . and assume it as “madrasa” . . come on man go and look for its meaning . . i called this world as darul sabab which mean you have to do work (sabab) to get something . . you will not get the things without work . . and it is meaning of a VERSE of QURAN . . you should know it atleast . .
        There is no need to comment on your remaining part . .

  • Whoever wrote this article was drunk

    To further add, Pakistani courts are independent. Unlike in many countries, Pakistani courts aren’t influenced by the Government or mafia groups.

    Everyone knows courts r ____________ in pak n they dont have any value they r just a bunch of unhealthy ________ old men getting paid heavily to sit on cousy chairs n enjoy thr lives….. public has no right whatsoever to ask or get justice

    [Comment Edited]

  • very bad how you defend the act you should be neutral party, i think this article is sponsored by Saudi’s or some Mula’s…. they block warez/torrent, they are even blocking website which do not relate with porn/warez…

    Money can be invested to improve PTCL/broadband providers infrastructure rather then on political issue

    People haven’t food to eat but there is pornography on high as google top ranked Pakistan good keep it up…

    @submitting comment without any hope that it will be posted…

  • First of all I do not agree with your statement that you are in favour of blocking obscene material but oppose censorship and secondly that the Pakistani courts are FREE.

    There is very thin line between blocking obscene material for which I do not believe there exists a clear definition and censorship.

    If courts were free and we had freedom of expression then I would not be afraid to challenge this decision.

  • I discussed with few other people on this topic. I tried to convince them using logics given in this article. They raised few points which I couldn’t answered myself. I thought why not ask those questions here. Maybe the admin or other people who are “people in favor” activists could answer them:

    1) What about thousands of articles in Wikipedia which are explicit/illicit in nature, with or without pornographic images?
    Do we have to ban the whole Wikipedia website or just those articles?
    The problem is that the Wikipedia’s website is ever evolving website and if we block 1000 articles today then it may not be enough after a week or a month when many new articles of such illicit may have written.
    Shouldn’t we have a new department under the IT ministry who will constantly searching for illicit articles in Wikipedia and many similar websites to censor them at URL level?

    2) What about art that is pornographic in nature?
    I am not just talking about modern art, but what about classic art? There are like thousands and thousands of art work (paintings and sculptures etc.) which has nudity in them. That all should be ban? Right?

    3) There are many websites that host modern art, for example deviantART. Which may allow illicit nature of art. Should we ban deviantART and similar art related website or do we need to block only the specific art in it?

    4) What about blog websites that allow illicit nature of webpages? Should we ban blog websites all together or block only the specific blog?
    Can we utilize the same new department (as mentioned in point number 1) under the IT ministry which can also constantly searching for these webpages and keep blocking any new blog that is created?

    My suggestion is that we can have a new department under the wing of IT ministry which can constantly monitor the internet and block concerning websites. That way we can create more jobs at IT ministry for talented youth of Pakistan.

    • There is already an inter-ministerial committee responsible for deciding the filter list. How well they are doing the job can be argued.

      Intent should be to keep only the adult/blasphemous content blocked. Of course there are educational websites containing explicit content – which for sure shouldn’t go censored.

      Yes, URL level filleting would (in fact it already is) be possible – meaning that one page would be blocked not the whole website, if required.

      • What’s the point of all this exercise and expenditure if we are not going to block explicit nature of images, text and videos from Google, Wikipedia, YouTube, Blogs, Classic Art websites and Modern Art websites.

        Pornography is pornography. We can’t say this is good or this is bad. If it’s bad then all of it is bad. All of it should be ban. Simple as that.

        • Two people kissing is considered “porn” for some people, based on past discussions on this blog. Want that censored?

          What is or isn’t porn is not obvious to everyone.

  • Another point that forgot to write in my above post is as following:

    5) What about Google? Google Images allow searching which can result in pornographic images even without visiting those website.

    We have to block the whole Google or at least the whole Google Images search because it is possible to access Google using secured HTTPS (https://www.google.com) which can be a problem if we try to filter using URL’s content because it’s a secured protocol.

  • Sad to see that Pakistan people have progressed so much due to the awareness they get from the internet.

    It should be blocked… just like access to education and heatlthcare. What the hell do Pakistani awaam think of itself… speaking against the angels in the government.

  • Censorship without proper and rigorous legislation to protect abuse is a very bad idea. Before this filtering is implemented, Civil Society must demand that adequate legislation is put in place to clearly define the parameters what can and cannot be blocked. Funny jokes about Asif Zardari should not warrant blocking Youtube for 22 Million people. Score settling by overzealous politicians fall into the same category.

    The reality is that neither our courts nor bureaucracy/politicians understand the net well enough to put something intelligent together. If filtering is to be implemented, a credible team of Internet opinion leaders must be formed to set parameters. Only then should something like this even be considered.

    There are precedents for blocking and there may be justifications at times for illegal content that poses danger to the public. But quantifying exactly what constitutes this is not trivial and cannot be left to monkey lawmakers.

  • Good report aamir.

    China is good example of censorship, Where we are standing compare to China?

  • So Pakistani courts of indepedent since they indicted the Prime Minister…what a joke…the courts are not indepedent and are party to military establishment.

    I think you guys you should get yourself some political education.

    The National level filtering, I am sure would be used against our civil liberties in terms of open access to information.

    Let society be free from such things. people grow up by time, and depsite national level filtering, you ever no, that in this growing age of IT, when thosuands of website show up, hundreds of which contain adult content, what even a national level filter can do!

    We should not support government in such a move and there should be protests against this national flitering!

  • I don’t know what makes the administrators of this blog support such an undemocratic move by the PTA!

  • @Hassan, What do you mean by open access?

    at-least being a muslim country, this should be restricted right away.

    second, This is a very basic level filtering, we are yet to block big fishes like google,youtube,facebook that use personal information for purposes you can not even think of.

    • What?? Alam are you talking to ban google?

      choorian pehen kr ghar baith jao ager Free Knowledge se alergic ho tou.

      • Nida,

        That knowledge can be see using our own Search engine, just like China have baidu.com(China’s homeland Search Engine) that keep chinese privacy inside china. Unlikely we(youth) giving our personal information that includes (our 24 hrs activity, feelings, friends and family using facebook, our instant update with twitter, our searches using google and now with Android phone you are updating Google with each and everything)

        If we ban only Google,facebook,youtube and introduce our own services. Pakistan will be shortage of Skilled resources.

        ‘Nida’ don’t jump to the conclusion without knowing facts or prior knowledge of the topic.

  • This blockage on internet or web sites is just a beginning in Pakistan, soon you will hear about blocking of various social interaction web sites, it seems a political motive behind such activities. Its all is just because of the successful use of internet in middle east. Abdullah a child of the age of 15 is no one its all so called democracy. Its true “Democracy is the Best Revenge”.

  • Several studies have shown that porn reduces the rate of rape. If you masturbate, you can understand why. Japan is a very good case study, of when rape, sex crimes and petty crimes decreased dramatically when porn was legalized.

    Pakistan has a lot of rape, and noone talks about it, or even acknowledges it. You will all burn in hell for allowing this to continue. You can pray 5 times a day and go to Hajj, but letting women get raped like this, without addressing the problem… you will see how God treats you.

  • Dear Admin,

    Here are a few yes or no questions for you:

    1) Should books also be selectively distributed in Pakistan?

    2) Should all “indian” movies and their cable channels be banned in Pakistan?

    3) Should we also ban all restaurants that allow young women without Pardah to hang out?

    4) Religion is very clear on Purdah, should we not enforce it to protect our society from ills?

    The point I am trying to make, Admin, is that if life is a test then there are choices, and its not humanly possible to restrict all opportunities for bad choices. Graves are individual, as is accountability, and if those who make rules and pass orders in this country truly believed they are accountable to a higher power the country would be much better.Our zealous young men compiling list of Porn sites should not be applauded, they could possibly have put their time and energy to better use.
    We are becoming a society rife with internal contradictions and double talk.

    Going down a path that leads to more and more authoritarianism will lead to a dark and closed society in which unimaginable evils will happen and no one will dare challenge them for the fear of being executed.

    Please understand, while the west has many flaws, one good thing they have learnt is that liberty, while it can be and is sometimes exploited, is still the best safeguard from the horrors of an authoritarian society.

    To be pious is not to have never had an opportunity to sin, to be pious is to have the choice and still not do wrong.

    Parents cannot be absolved of the responsibility of raising kids with a solid moral grounding by delegating these individual responsibilities to the state.

    So please take the responsibility of being a person whose opinion is read by many people more seriously and think more before you decide to roll down a path guns blazing.

    While porn is pathetic and vulgar and no one in their right mind can defend it, I feel that the state authorities, young list-makers and technology bloggers should know that if we start going down this road the country will become a place where nothing is allowed for the ordinary and EVERYTHING will be done shamelessly behind closed doors by a ruling elite of hypocrites who will use Religion as a means for repression. (There are several examples of such states existing)

  • All said and done, at least here I see a healthy debate over the subject. To Mr. Amir Atta, you’ve shown rather unwittingly, I presume, a certain lack of communication and writing techniques. I don’t mind the existence of such a firewall given there will be legislation under the Freedom of Information clause – add a subsection, if you will – which lays out proper procedure for any website to be blocked.
    Such legislation should include, at least, that each website will be reviewed in individual capacity. You can’t play the word-game ‘website with objectionable material…’ Nope, I can’t have that.
    The Firewall project should be funded alongside another initiative which allows public to demand review of any blockade whatsoever and the Feedback Software (system…Watyacallit?) must be efficient enough to ensure response within 24-hours.
    For academic and research purposes ALL websites must be open.
    Enough suggestions for this forum, though you would agree (even Mr. Atta) that there are other considerations which need to taken care of.
    Also, a court order is NOT equivalent to legislation. I don’t want the judiciary to be making these decisions – they can, as in the case of 20th Amendment did the Honorable Supreme Court, ask the legislature to make laws to the effect.
    Legislation with regards to WWW is still on-going even in US – a recent case of Privacy in US SC, where a convicted drug dealer was set free maybe referred to – the judges in their detailed decision asked the Congress to make laws conforming to evolving lifestyles.
    I mean no offense; I don’t need this forums approval of my tech. expertise not that I claim to have them as much as Mr. Atta. I’m a better writer than Mr. Atta, but that too is irrelevant. I’m not a legal expert; irrelevant. I’m a guy who wants his right to information to be governed by a laws – not by provisional court orders, not by bureaucrats, IT experts, Businessmen and not in the least by oh-everyone’s-dumb-Atta-knows-it-all-can-never-be-wrong-his-knowledge-is-absolute-and-intellect-ubiqutous articles.
    – Long time reader

  • Oh God.

    This is Totally Nonsense. Look who is concerned about the morality of the nation, (The Pathetic Government of Pakistan). Those who can’t provide, food, shelter, justice, better living standards, health, education, transportation are now VERY MUCH CONCERNED about the Nation looking PORN, OH MY GOD. That sound Hilarious to me.

    This & Every Previous & Coming Retarded Government has always done things of their own profit & they got nothing to do with the benefit of this so called Nation. So I believe there is definetley a Political Motive behind this.

    And those who are blaming internet for causing rape, murder, assault, GROW UP Guys. Where on earth are you living in a FANTASY???

    Was there 0 crime on planet earth before the invention in internet!!! Stop being childish now.

    And guys what makes you realize that internet is the only source of promoting porn in pakistan? Its not a long time, since when you used internet for the first time. May be in college, university or school? I used internet for the first time about 7 years ago. And did you forgot? The CDs & DVDs??? You probably have bought/borrowed many cds/dvds from your friends so keep it low & stop blaming internet for it.

    These disgusting governments can’t even stop a handful of shopkeepers selling Porn DVDs/CDs in Hall Road Lahore & Look now they’re talking about buying a $10 Million system to PREVENT THIS HOLY NATION FROM PORN?

    Such A Shame …

  • I know lots of websites which are not porn but they have been blocked in the name of porn just becasue they are blind while executing 1000s of domains/urls/IPs or illiterate to know the difference between a search engine and a porn hosted site
    even lots of torrent sites are blocked with error Blocked by PTA


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