TIMESONLINE: Pakistan blocked access to YouTube yesterday because the website was carrying cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that have sparked protests by Muslims across the world.
The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority ordered the country's 70 internet service providers to block YouTube because it contained “blasphemous content, videos and documents”, government officials said.
The cartoons were published by Danish newspapers in 2005 and reprinted earlier this month. “They asked us to ban it [YouTube] immediately ... and the order says the ban will continue until further notice,” said Wahaj-us-Siraj, the convener of the Association of Pakistan Internet Service Providers.
Publication of the cartoons led to protests in many Muslim countries, including Pakistan, in which at least 50 people were killed and three Danish embassies attacked. Five people died in Pakistan during the riots, while a cleric offered $1 million (£500,000) and a new car for anyone who killed any of the cartoonists. YouTubecut off over offensive cartoons >>> By Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent
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