Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) issued a clarification Friday stating that a press release circulating on social media about a ban on YouTube is outdated and derived from 2012. PTA called on the public to disregard the misleading information.
In a statement, the telekarelegulator explained that the press release, which reappeared online, caused confusion about YouTube’s current operational status in Pakistan. “It has come to PTA’s attention that an old press release on the shutdown of YouTube in Pakistan, originally issued in September 2012 after the Supreme Court, will be recycled,” the statement reads.
The original ban was enforced by then Prime Minister Raja Perez Ashraf in response to protests over the controversial film Muslim’s innocence. However, PTA confirmed that the press release in 2012 is no longer relevant.
“PTA clarifies that the content circulated is outdated and irrelevant to current circumstances,” the authority said. “At present, no instructions have been issued of PTA to block or close YouTube or any other social media platform.”
PTA also advised the public to verify such information through official channels, including its website and verified social media handles.
In related news, India recently blocked two dozen Pakistani YouTube channels to allegedly scattered “provocative” content following an attack in Indian illegally occupied Jammu Kashmir (IIOJK).
Channels with prominent Pakistani news sites such as Express, Dawn, Samaa TV, Ary News, Bol News and Geo News were influenced with the social media accounts for various Pakistani personalities, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and athletes such as Shahid Afridi and Babar Azam.
The blocked channels in India showed a message citing an “order from the government related to national security or public order.”
