Pakistans new IT minister has warned that Google could be blocked in the country if the company fails to remove blasphemous and objectionable material from its videosharing website YouTube.
Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Anusha Rahman Khan made the remarks on her first day in office yesterday while talking about Pakistans efforts to end a ninemonth ban on YouTube for hosting clips from the controversial film Innocence of Muslims.
Google, the parent company of YouTube, had rejected requests from the previous Pakistan Peoples Partyled government to remove the objectionable material and Ms. Khan said she hoped the company would listen to the new PML N government.
It all depends on our negotiation clout. If they persist with their stance, we can block Google in Pakistan as a last resort as there are many alternative search engines available on the web, Ms. Khan was quoted as saying by The News daily.
Pak