Pakistani actors and politicians have shunned the idea of another possible YouTube ban in the country after Supreme Court hinted it might take action against social media sites. Actors Mehwish Hayat, Zara Noor Abbas and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Digital Pakistan, Tania Aidrus, and Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry took to Twitter to oppose the ban.
Taking to her Twitter account, Hayat said that freedom of speech is the basic tenet of any society. “In Pakistan, social media provides checks and balances that the mainstream doesn’t. Progressive states shouldn’t need to resort to bans!” said Hayat.
In a series of tweets, actor Abbas said that filtering content would be a great idea but banning YouTube will only create more idleness and negativity amongst professionals and the public. She added that there is a massive industry of content creators, digital makers, and entertainers in Pakistan.
Actor Ahmed Ali Butt took to his Instagram story and raised concerns over the possible YouTube ban. He wants to know why the PTA’s only solution is imposing a ban and not working on safety measures.
He said that there are so many people, including artists, who make a decent living through YouTube, it is better to focus on safety measures than a total ban.
Read also: Tragic fate of digitization in Pakistan: PUBG ban hurts unemployed youth and future of eSports
Banning YouTube not a solution: Tania Aidrus
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Digital Pakistan, Tania Aidrus, said Wednesday that banning video streaming website YouTube was “not a solution”, highlighting how the platform had created thousands of jobs for Pakistanis over the years.
Taking to Twitter, Aidrus recalled how Pakistan’s content creator ecosystem had been held back the three years YouTube was banned in the country.
Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry also shared his thoughts about the ongoing “moral policing and ban approach” in Pakistan as the country ponders permanent bans on TikTok and PUBG and a day after the Chinese application was warned over “immoral, obscene and vulgar content”.
Fawad said that it was not okay to go on banning apps left, right, and centre, as it would “destroy [Pakistani] tech industry”.
He further highlighted how development in technology would “be permanently hampered” across Pakistan, a country that already lags significantly behind the world in terms of science and research.
Source: Samaa TV
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