The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has decided to launch operation ‘clean-up’ against websites running ‘vulgar and objectionable content’ in the country.
The move follows a Supreme Court order this month to ban online material considered blasphemous or objectionable in Pakistan.
In this respect, a PTA report submitted to the Supreme Court on Thursday stated that ISPs (internet service providers) had been directed to block more than 400,000 websites having pornographic content.
It detailed that the internet companies had already blocked 200,000 links while the PTA had blocked 84,000 websites over objectionable content. The report further said that it was not possible to block all such platforms as many new websites were being developed on a daily basis.
The apex court was also informed that steps were being taken along with all stakeholders to improve the procedure to counter these websites.
Major pornography websites have already been barred in Pakistan, although hundreds of thousands have fallen through the cracks of Internet censors.
Other websites, including Facebook and YouTube, had previously been banned as part of a government-led censorship campaign.
Last month, Pakistan lifted the years-long YouTube ban, in place since 2012 after the video sharing site uploaded an American-made blasphemous film. But the localised version of the video-sharing site may still be regulated by authorities who can ask Google to remove material deemed inappropriate.
