VZCZCXRO8656
OO RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHIL #0856 0581400
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 271400Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5426
INFO RUEHPW/AMCONSUL PESHAWAR 3655
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 4962
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 9115
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC

UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 000856 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ECPS ECON EINT KPAO PK
SUBJECT: PAKISTAN BACKS DOWN FROM "YOUTUBE" BLOCKAGE 
 
Ref: Islamabad 806 
 
1.(SBU) Summary: After a Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) 
effort to "protect" Pakistanis from blasphemous Internet content 
went wildly off the rails and caused an international outage of the 
YouTube video-sharing website, PTA has withdrawn the order to block 
the site. As Internet industry insiders fret over the 
vulnerabilities this incident reveals, PTA insists the aim of the 
blockage was to preserve public order, and Pakistani observers 
continue to see more secular than religious motives. End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) PTA ordered Internet service providers (ISPs) on February 23 
to block access to YouTube (reftel). Pakistan Telecommunications 
Corp. Ltd. (PTCL), Pakistan's largest ISP, then tried to establish 
an Internet protocol to route user requests for YouTube access to a 
"black hole." PTCL sent the request to its international service 
carrier, Hong Kong-based PCCW Ltd. PCCW published the instruction to 
redirect YouTube access requests to a new address, advising its 
other customers to use the routing. As a result, most of the global 
YouTube access requests from Internet users for about two hours on 
February 24 were routed to the "black hole," denying access to all. 
 
 
¶3. (U) In a February 25 news release, PTA said it ordered YouTube to 
be blocked "on account of showing (a) highly blasphemous Dutch 
film." (Note: Release of the film by Dutch politician Geert Wilders 
is expected in March. The video in question apparently was about 
Wilders and his message, but was not the film itself. End note.) PTA 
said it made the decision after meeting with senior officials of the 
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Ministry of Interior, 
Ministry of Religious Affairs, Cabinet Division, Federal 
Investigation Agency, and PTA. "PTA believes that the said footage 
absolutely stands against the values of religious tolerance and 
peaceful coexistence arousing deep anguish and distress across the 
Muslim world. Had this highly profane and sacrilegious footage not 
been banned, it would have caused more unrest and possible loss of 
life and property across the country," the statement said. Media 
report that PTA also claimed YouTube's terms of service forbid hate 
speech, so blasphemous content would violate that provision. 
 
¶4. (U) On February 26, PTA walked back the order to block YouTube, 
saying the site had removed the offensive material. Access to 
YouTube via Pakistani ISPs is now back to normal. 
 
¶5. (U) Although it appears that the Pakistan incident was an 
unintentional misunderstanding, industry analysts have commented in 
the media that this case shows how easy it would be for an ISP with 
malicious intent simply to announce that it is the official or 
preferred portal to a particular website; data carriers with no 
reason to doubt the information would in good faith share it with 
other customers, and the malicious ISP could hijack the site in 
question. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: Pakistani media continue to point out that with 
YouTube hosting videos that show alleged rigging in last week's 
parliamentary elections, election-related violence, Pakistan's 
judicial controversies, and criticism of government officials, there 
are plenty of reasons besides religious sensitivities for the 
Pakistani authorities' effort to keep the country's Internet users 
away from YouTube. End comment. 
 
PATTERSON