Submissions/Restricted sites in Pakistan

This is an open submission for Wikimania 2010.

Restricted websites in Pakistan.China wasn't the half of it.

panel

Nadia Siddiqi

ns999

United Kingdom Pakistan

http://nadiasiddiqi.blogspot.com/

Abstract (Facebook,Wikipedia and YouTube are the three most popular websites restricted by the government of Pakistan this week.Youtube was also blocked earlier in 2007 during a notoriously ;botched election. Now the excuse for shutting these websites down runs from "There existed a ;facebook group which called for drawing images of the last Prophet"(This would be a viable excuse ;If the group could not have been simply 'reported' and then removed.)to energy saving. The latter ;being a much more logical alternative; as Pakistanis are in a way addicted to these websites and ;taking a break from them does entail a dramatic (much needed; given the ensuing power crisis) fall ;in electricity usage.

Albeit the problem that trickles my boggled cerebrum is not the energy-conservation by-product ;of these startlingly innovative measures but the hypocrisy of the so called democratic regime; ;which seems to be much more inclined towards dictatorship than still largely communist Fascist ;China.The Pakistan People's party came into power acquiring a mass pity vote following the still ;suspicious death of their prime candidate Benazir Bhutto. Having arrived on the pretext of being ;saviors of democracy,looping the slogan "democracy is the best revenge"in an infinite iterative ;verbal process. And yet here we are; our votes counting for squat and our freedoms diminished.

On the upside, our days seem to last longer,feel fuller and certain angered frustrations over ;the frequent posts of religio-fanatic harbingers of injustice are assuaged.It is refreshing not to ;have one's Inbox plagued with invites to join pseudo-Islamic terrorist-leaning F.B ;groups.And ;also alternatively not having to view some strange advertisement touting a crescent forming the ;face of a cleric in a starless night juxtaposed to the latest Ke$ha video which one chose to ;watch.Not to mention being free of the perpetual shame over being wrongly associated with throngs ;of close minded perverted fellow countrymen who possibly spend their entire time posting videos ;titled something to the effect of 'cute/hot Pakistani/Paki gurlz;aztaghfirulla(damn them)" on Youtube.

There is a freedom in censorship that only censored people know. ;D

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