YouTube Is Accessible In Some Parts Of The Country Due To Technical Fault In Blockage

The world's biggest video sharing site YouTube has been accessible in Pakistan following some technical fault in the blockage. The site is only accessible in some areas of Karachi since Thursday while in rest of the country it is still un accessible. The Pakistani government had blocked the video sharing website since September 2012, after the former's request to block blasphemous video 'Innocence of Muslims' for Pakistani viewers was turned down. However, the website was accessible on the platform of at least three different ISPs according to internet consumer survey. PTA confirmed that YouTube is official banned in the country and there is no change in government stance on it. The reasons for the sudden restoration of YouTube are unclear. According to one account the site was accessible because one of the four submarine cables that connect the country with internet are under maintenance. As a result its traffic has been diverted to Egypt where the website is accessible thus some consumers in Karachi- the landing point for that cable-are able to access the website. However, an official from Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (ISPAK) disagrees with the first account on technical grounds. YouTube is blocked both at gateway and retail level thus, it is technically not possible to view it even if traffic is routed to a different country. ISPAK official also confirmed the reports that some operators have unblocked the website in Karachi. "The website is still blocked in rest of the country - even in Karachi it is available only partially," he added.