ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has denied rumours that YouTube is about to be banned in the country, calling them completely baseless.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the PTA clarified that the notice widely shared on social media is over a decade old and has no relevance to the current situation. “The press release in question is from 2012, when the then Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf ordered the suspension of YouTube over blasphemous content,” the PTA explained.
The authority noted that this outdated notice is now being circulated again in a misleading manner, causing unnecessary confusion and concern among the public.
“There is no truth in the claims of a YouTube ban,” the PTA stressed. “No new instructions have been issued to block or restrict access to YouTube or any other social media platform.”
Read more: PTA starts licensing VPN service providers to regulate internet services
Citizens are urged to rely only on verified information from the PTA’s official website or its verified social media accounts. The authority also advised people to refrain from sharing unverified reports that may cause panic or spread misinformation.
