contained ‘‘blasphemous’’ content considered offensive to Islam, was the official cause
of the block, but others claim that the government could have been trying to suppress
a video depicting a woman engaging in election fraud in Karachi. 68 In response, the
PTCL redirected requests for YouTube videos to its own network. This rerouting was
advertised to the Internet at large and was picked up by the Hong Kong–based ISP
PCCW, which then broadcast the redirect to ISPs around the world. 69 YouTube staff
worked with PCCW to restore access within two hours. 70 Access to YouTube was
restored in Pakistan after the video listed in the PTA blocking order was removed.
The Web sites blocked by all four ISPs provide a representative snapshot of 2008
filtering practices, consisting entirely of Balochi news, independence, and culture Web
sites, with the exception of two: the anti-Islamist jihadwatch.org and themoviefitna
.com, a Web site dedicated to coverage of Geert Wilders and his film Fitna.
The filtering of material considered blasphemous or anti-Islamic has long been a purported objective in Pakistan. In 2006–2007, most material relating to the Danish cartoon incident that led to a block on the entire Blogspot.com domain was blocked by
ISPs; 2008 testing showed that many of these have since been hacked or unblocked.
Cybernet, LINKdotNET, and the PTCL blocked a right-wing American Web site containing the cartoons (zombietime.com), while leaving only Cybernet to block one
other relevant Web site, mohammeddrawings.com.
By April 2006, the PTA extended their blocking to anti-state Web sites as well as those
promoting Balochi human rights and political autonomy. 71 Testing done by the ONI
in 2006–2007 confirmed that internal security conflicts had become a strong focus for
filtering, including Web sites relating to Balochi independence movements, Sindhi
human rights, and political autonomy movements. Among these categories, Web sites
addressing Balochi political independence were the most comprehensively blocked.
Filtering of content in 2008 continued to target these categories of Web sites, albeit a
smaller number and with even greater inconsistency. All four ISPs blocked Web sites
tested relating to human rights, news, and justice (e.g., www.balochistaninfo.com)
in the province of Balochistan. However, a number of Balochistan-related Web sites
blocked by all four ISPs have been closed, including www.balochfront.com and
baloch2000.org. Other Web sites were blocked by a combination, but not all, of
the ISPs, including the Balochistan Legal Fund (www.bso-na.org) by Cybernet,
LINKdotNET, and the PTCL; the Balochi independence Web site balochestan.com by
Cybernet and LINKdotNET; and www.balochtawar.net by Cybernet and Micronet. A
limited selection of Balochi-related blogs were also blocked, with all four ISPs filtering
www.rahimjaandehvari.blogfa.com.
A selected number of the Sindhi sites tested continued to be blocked in 2008, such
as www.worldsindhi.org, which was blocked by the PTCL, Micronet, and LINKdotNET.
Unlike in 2006–2007, none were blocked by all four ISPs. However, in contrast to
496
Pakistan
of the block, but others claim that the government could have been trying to suppress
a video depicting a woman engaging in election fraud in Karachi. 68 In response, the
PTCL redirected requests for YouTube videos to its own network. This rerouting was
advertised to the Internet at large and was picked up by the Hong Kong–based ISP
PCCW, which then broadcast the redirect to ISPs around the world. 69 YouTube staff
worked with PCCW to restore access within two hours. 70 Access to YouTube was
restored in Pakistan after the video listed in the PTA blocking order was removed.
The Web sites blocked by all four ISPs provide a representative snapshot of 2008
filtering practices, consisting entirely of Balochi news, independence, and culture Web
sites, with the exception of two: the anti-Islamist jihadwatch.org and themoviefitna
.com, a Web site dedicated to coverage of Geert Wilders and his film Fitna.
The filtering of material considered blasphemous or anti-Islamic has long been a purported objective in Pakistan. In 2006–2007, most material relating to the Danish cartoon incident that led to a block on the entire Blogspot.com domain was blocked by
ISPs; 2008 testing showed that many of these have since been hacked or unblocked.
Cybernet, LINKdotNET, and the PTCL blocked a right-wing American Web site containing the cartoons (zombietime.com), while leaving only Cybernet to block one
other relevant Web site, mohammeddrawings.com.
By April 2006, the PTA extended their blocking to anti-state Web sites as well as those
promoting Balochi human rights and political autonomy. 71 Testing done by the ONI
in 2006–2007 confirmed that internal security conflicts had become a strong focus for
filtering, including Web sites relating to Balochi independence movements, Sindhi
human rights, and political autonomy movements. Among these categories, Web sites
addressing Balochi political independence were the most comprehensively blocked.
Filtering of content in 2008 continued to target these categories of Web sites, albeit a
smaller number and with even greater inconsistency. All four ISPs blocked Web sites
tested relating to human rights, news, and justice (e.g., www.balochistaninfo.com)
in the province of Balochistan. However, a number of Balochistan-related Web sites
blocked by all four ISPs have been closed, including www.balochfront.com and
baloch2000.org. Other Web sites were blocked by a combination, but not all, of
the ISPs, including the Balochistan Legal Fund (www.bso-na.org) by Cybernet,
LINKdotNET, and the PTCL; the Balochi independence Web site balochestan.com by
Cybernet and LINKdotNET; and www.balochtawar.net by Cybernet and Micronet. A
limited selection of Balochi-related blogs were also blocked, with all four ISPs filtering
www.rahimjaandehvari.blogfa.com.
A selected number of the Sindhi sites tested continued to be blocked in 2008, such
as www.worldsindhi.org, which was blocked by the PTCL, Micronet, and LINKdotNET.
Unlike in 2006–2007, none were blocked by all four ISPs. However, in contrast to
496
Pakistan