On September 6, people across Pakistan were shocked when they found out that they couldn’t access YouTube anymore. A platform that is the one of the first source of information for most of the nation was “down”, till many later realised that the streaming website has been “blocked” by PTA. While the reasons for the temporary blockage were of a political nature, those not interested in such games had other troubles.

Many took to social media to find some clarity and confirm if they were the only ones facing the block or if it was nation-wide. One user, whose meal time was disrupted because of the YouTube block, was worried. He tweeted: “Why is YouTube blocked bro? I’m just trying to eat.” Another, who logged on to YouTube ahead of meal time as well, was left troubled. She wrote: “Why is YouTube blocked in Pakistan? I wanted to double-check a pasta recipe and now I can’t do it.” Others, who watch their favourite TV shows on YouTube, also had to face disappointment. One user commented: “Aray, I need to watch my shows.”

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While meal time disruptions plagued meal time for many Pakistanis last night, others had serious concerns and called out the limitation on freedom of speech in Pakistan. But this is also not the first time that the application was blocked or banned in Pakistan. Back in 2008, many had protested and called for a ban on YouTube because some of the content had “questionable content”. The streaming platform remained blocked till the said content was removed.

Similar cases caused bans in 2010 and 2012 as well but the video platform was restored once the “inappropriate” content was removed. In 2015, YouTube faced another ban in Pakistan for an indefinite amount, but was eventually lifted after a glitch caused some systems to run the platform.