LHC refers YouTube ban case to larger bench
- September 19, 2013, 7:43 pm
- National News
- 109 Views
LAHORE, Sept 19 (Online): Lahore High Court (LHC) judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah has referred the YouTube ban case to the larger bench headed by the Chief Justice for a hearing as this case is of high importance.
The website was blocked by former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf about a year ago. Since then various segments of the society have demanded the restoration of access to the website.
The former prime minister had imposed the ban after YouTube refused to remove blasphemous film The Innocence of the Muslims from its website.
The Lahore High Court had asked the minister and secretary of Information Technology to appear before the court in August in a petition challenging the ban on access to video sharing website YouTube in Pakistan.
The number of people who accessed the Innocence of Muslims clip on YouTube is a tiny fraction of the number who used it to access educational and Islamic content, the Lahore High Court was told last month as it heard a petition challenging the ban on the video-sharing website. The petitioner in the case at the LHC had argued that the ban is counter-productive as it limits access to a vital educational and research tool.
The government was considering lifting the ban after Eidul Fitr but the ban has still not been lifted as all stakeholders need to be taken into confidence.
