Ban on Youtube: An Opportunity for Pakistani Entrepreneurs

Even after two and a half years of Youtube ban in Pakistan, there is still talk of re-opening of the video streaming site. The issue was also under discussion in the national Assembly recently. But still there are no signs of the ban lift.

Though the official Google analystics show a sharp decline in visitors to the site since the ban, the people in Pakistan are still using Youtube by several means like gaining access through proxy sites and proxy add-ons. This shows that generally the ban has had not any significance in preventing access to Youtube.

Most people using Youtube are of the view that instead of banning the site PTA should just block the specific videos. In fact, Youtube is also being widely used for educational purposes and it has been the forefront site for educational videos.

Since the ban, entrepreneurs have evolved and tapped the opportunities being created due to the ban. It has open a new gateway for tech entrepreneurs like Youtubes, Playtube, Tune.pk and YTPak among many others. Some have even managed to introduce features that Youtube itself lacks.

As the alternatives get better and better, the potential for building a loyal audience even if the ban if lifted increases. Entrepreneurs in Pakistan are filling the gap of video streaming sites and they’re doing it well. In that sense, the ban has proven to be an accelerator and a blessing in disguise


  • IMO, the gap can’t be filled, at least for the content which is uploaded by the nations where youtube is not blocked. Khan Academy or Udacity are not gonna bother to upload there videos on tune dot pk, this would be the case for all non-local content. However the startups like playit dot pk can make an impact to a certain extent, that is because they are a clone of youtube in terms of content.

    • check vimow dot com ( Sargodha university students ) who claims that they filtered out the material which was the cause to ban it.

    • Khan, Udaciy, Edx, MiT they all upload on youtube. And by API Design, anything that exists on youtube (not private videos) can readily be accessed using playit.pk

  • few days ago, I enjoyed Youtube directly, what was it, my two other friends also confirm it, was it a Testing or anything else ? is here somebody who experienced it ?

    • That Was Because PTCL was going through some crisis when their underwater cables got damaged and PTCL
      users were experiencing slow internet and frequent disconnection issues
      for days.
      When PTCL fixed the cables and their whole system, they must have reset
      the whole settings to default that means no filter on any content
      available on the internet. Therefore, all the PTCL users can easily
      access YouTube, Torrent websites and all other blocked websites in
      Pakistan without any VPN or Proxies

  • I have a 100% foolproof method for using Youtube WITHOUT a proxy. And yes my IP address is reported as from Pakistan.

    I do not use any extensions, plugins, proxies, anything like that. I use the same Google Chrome and operating systems as most of Pakistani users (well except I don’t personally prefer Windows but that is another story). I have been using my method for over a year now without trouble.

    However, I have only shared my method with a few people because I do not want it blocked.

    • why not government blocking these websites which showing contents from Youtube? if your method can be blocked :)

    • One of my friend told me, that he is using youtube by putting particular DNS in local machine. But he didn’t share DNS address like you.
      I guess your method could be same as well :)

      • That is the easy half the answer that everyone knows. the other half is not a SECRET but it’s not obvious.

        • using zong internet on 3g dongle…dont know how but youtube is working without doing anything…. and btw also checked porn its also working smoothly :)

    • By using Google DNS or Open DNS and access YouTube with HTTPS communication protocol? Checkmate, may be?

      • Yes, I use other DNS, but that is not the real solution.

        Sometimes even https does not work. The site partially loads or sometimes even for me the front page does not load after a while. But the way I do things, it works all the time. Never a case where the html loads but the video does not.

  • And FOR THE RECORD: all these sites you mention will FAIL FAIL FAIL when traffic increases because they cannot afford the bandwidth & also provide services (videos) for free. This already came up in a previous article on this site about local sites like ytpak

    In other words, they will have to put lots of ads on their sites to be profitable ==OR== start selling user data openly (which Google and Facebook and other sites DO NOT AND NEVER HAVE done).

    So be cautious. If they sites are free, you’re the product and they will USE your viewing habits in some way.

    • yeah, its true, but people here are crazy, I am using a proxy, I knew about it they can also steal data, but when going online I am using Virtual Box to keep my actual drives as safe as possible ( even I knew they also can reach to there, the proxy provider ). nobody is safe when going online imo.

  • I was saying the same that some people perhaps are giving black money to the PTA in order to run their business. Because they know If Youtube is unblocked, the day will be our last day in the Milky Way Galaxy.

    #There’s_Something_Suspicious_Going_On

    • bhook insaan ko apna jism baichne per majboor ker daiti hai zameer kya cheez hai? phir in k pait to bohot baday baday hein… :)

    • dailymotion ko sab se zayada faida hua hai … wohi paise khila ray hain pta ko


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