Tag Archives: muslim
Free YouTube! Pakistan ban faces court action
Free YouTube! Pakistan ban faces court action (AP) / 16 September 2013 ToffeeTV has hit an unexpected snag. The Internet startup depended on YouTube to promote “Hokey-Pokey,” “The Umm Nyum Nyum Song” and other language-teaching clips it produces for children, but the video-sharing website has been banned in Pakistan for nearly a year. The measure was imposed to block videos that Muslims took as insulting and blasphemous. But the unintended consequence has been frustration for many companies, educators and students. A petition to end Internet censorship is before a Pakistani court, and a debate has been rekindled over how to reconcile the right to a free flow of information with a widespread public sentiment that Islam needs special protections. ToffeeTV has had to save its clips on its own servers and delay the rollout of its apps, says company co-founder Rabia Garib. “It threw us off our feet,” she said. “We’re off schedule by about eight months.” While the tech-savvy have ways to get around the ban, the vast majority of Pakistanis who try to view YouTube get this: “Surf Safely! … The site you are trying to access contains content that is prohibited for viewership from within Pakistan.” The made-in-America trailer for “Innocence of Muslims,” the movie of which has never reached cinemas, provoked uproar throughout the Muslim world, and several US diplomatic missions were targeted. In Pakistan, clashes between police and protesters left 19 people dead. YouTube as well as Facebook were initially blocked although the government soon exempted Facebook, saying it removed the offensive material. At the time, US President Barack Obama’s administration asked Google, YouTube’s parent, to take down the video. But the company refused, saying the trailer didn’t violate its content standards. The only other countries that block YouTube are Tajikistan, China and Iran, according to Google’s transparency report that tracks restrictions of its products. Another 56 countries have localised versions of YouTube that allow for tailoring content to local standards. Pakistan, a nation of roughly 180 million, has a democratically elected government and a legal system inherited from its former British rulers. But that system also contains significant religious strictures, and disputes over religion frequently end in bloodshed. So at the time the YouTube ban was imposed, many saw it as a necessary calming measure. Now an advocacy group called Bytes for All is petitioning the Lahore High Court to order an end to all Internet censorship. Muzzling YouTube “could lead to the opening up of an entire Pandora’s box of moral policing and dictatorial controls despite the democracy being in place,” said Furhan Hussain of Bytes for All. At the organisation’s Islamabad offices, activists say the YouTube case is just the latest example. Over the years the government has periodically banned Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, but the YouTube ban has lasted the longest. It can be circumvented via VPNs, virtual private networks that mask the user’s computer but are prone to viruses and slow the Internet connection. These proxies are too cumbersome for his staff to deal with, says Jawwad Ahmed Farid, founder and CEO of Karachi-based Alchemy Technologies, which does risk-management training for financial professionals. It posts short videos of its classes on YouTube to attract business, but uploads fewer of them following the ban, and the volume of Pakistani customers referred through YouTube has fallen, Farid said. “My team finds it very difficult to work with all the proxies in place. It certainly slows it down a bit,” he said. Sidra Qasim is co-CEO of HOMETOWN, a Lahore-based company that helps leather workers to market products such as shoes and belts online. It used YouTube to reach customers and also to teach the workers new techniques. “Now that training part is stopped totally,” she said. A committee of officials from various ministries is looking for solutions and will make the decision on whether to unblock YouTube. But experts aren’t sure a technical solution even exists, and Bytes for All and others say that even if the government comes up with a filtering mechanism, they will continue to resist it as censorship. Kamran Ali, a spokesman for the Ministry of Internet Technology, acknowledged that the ban can be a hardship but said the government must weigh freedom of information against offending the public. “It’s a Muslim country, and this video clearly violates the religious sentiments of the people of Pakistan,” he said. At Air University in Islamabad, some students supported a government-imposed filter. “If they are able to control this blasphemous material that would be a good step,” said Waqar ur-Rehman, 21. But they recognised the difficulty of actually coming up with a system, and some argued against any restrictions, if only because they could be evaded. “I think the ban shouldn’t have been there. It (the movie) hurt a lot of religious sentiments, mine as well, but it was not the right way to do it, because there are so many ways to go around it,” said Palwasha Khursheed, who studies electrical engineering. Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a Muslim cleric, acknowledged the ban was porous, and said Pakistan was missing an opportunity to use technology such as YouTube to educate people about Islam. He urged the government to lift the ban, but only after installing filters, saying, “We must not allow anyone to attack our cultural values.” One solution would be a localised version of YouTube for Pakistan. But Google would need immunity from prosecution for any offending content, and Pakistani law so far doesn’t allow for such an arrangement. “It is Google’s goal to offer local versions of YouTube to more places worldwide, but it takes time,” said Google in a statement to The Associated Press in request for comment about the court case. “The localization process can be lengthy as we research laws and build relationships with local content creators.” Continue reading
Brotherhood allies seek truce
Brotherhood allies seek truce (AP) / 26 August 2013 Two of Egypt’s former militant groups are offering an initiative to halt the country’s political violence, in which supporters of the ousted Islamist president will stop street protests if the military-backed government stops its crackdown on them, the groups’ leaders said on Monday. An Egyptian woman waits for her breakfast on a street fast food restaurant in Suleiman Gohar market in Dokki district in Cairo, Egypt, on Monday. -AP The initiative led by Egypt’s Gamaa Islamiya and Islamic Jihad movements, which waged an insurgency in the 1990s, aims to bring dialogue between the military and the Muslim Brotherhood, from which toppled President Mohammed Mursi hails. Mursi was overthrown by the military on July 3 after millions took to the street demanding that he step down. Mursi’s allies had previously insisted that he be restored to power as starting point for any talks, but Islamic Jihad leader Mohammed Abu Samra told The Associated Press that negotiations had no “red lines.” The groups do not speak for the Brotherhood, but the initiative is a new sign of flexibility from the pro-Mursi alliance of mostly Islamist groups. It comes as the Islamists’ protest campaign wanes and numbers at their formerly massive rallies dwindle. Hundreds of Brotherhood leaders and organisers have been arrested in the crackdown. Egypt’s worst bout of violence in its 2 ½ years of turmoil was set off when security forces backed by snipers and armoured vehicles moved in to break up two sprawling pro-Mursi protest camps on August 14. More than 1,000 people were killed in the raids and other violence over the next several days, mostly Mursi supporters. “We are paving the way for talks,” Abu Samra said over the phone. “We can’t hold talks while we are at the points of swords in the midst of killings and crackdowns.” He said the groups were “extending their hands” to avoid a bloodier confrontation with the military. He said that the Islamists will stop demonstrations so long as the military halts its crackdown and stops defaming the Brotherhood in mosques and in the media. Asked if Islamist groups would accept talks without demanding Mursi’s reinstatement, he said, “Blood is more valuable than the seat of power.” Top Muslim Brotherhood negotiator Amr Darrag said that the group is open for talks but after “confidence-building measures.” However, he added, “the other side didn’t show a single gesture or any sign that it is ready for dialogue. It only talks about it but no action.” It was not immediately possible to reach the interim president’s political advisers for comment. Egypt’s Interim Prime Minister Hazem El Beblawi had earlier told reporters that security measures will not be enough on their own and that Egypt “must go down the political path” to work out a democratic transition through reconciliation. However, he ruled out talks with anyone who had committed acts of violence. Continue reading
Cash reward for catching top leaders of Brotherhood
Cash reward for catching top leaders of Brotherhood Mustafa Al Zarooni / 21 August 2013 Emirati journalist Hamad Al Mazroui has announced a reward of one million Egyptian pounds — equal to approximately $143,000 — to whoever helps arrest any of the three most important leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Al Mazroui posted the announcement on his Twitter account that he would hand over the amount to anyone who helps locate any of the three top Brotherhood leaders — Essam el-Eryan, Mohamed Al Beltagi and Safwat Hijazi — whose arrests have been ordered by the South Cairo Public Prosecution. The bounty will be presented in coordination with the Egyptian Interior Ministry, no matter what the informant’s nationality or religion is, or even if he/she is one of the Egyptian Interior Ministry’s officers or from the Muslim Brotherhood itself. Speaking to Khaleej Times, Al Mazroui said: “I have allocated the cash reward to cease the bloodshed in Egypt as those three men are the leaders of militants and they are no less dangerous than the supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood.” Al Mazroui had earlier donated Dh1 million to Egypt during a public donation campaign to save Egypt from the current economic crisis. malzarooni@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
