Youtube blocked in Pakistan

This is with reference to an earlier post about Pakistani authorities blocking access to youtube. The reasons given are the Danish cartoons and the trailer for an upcoming Dutch film about Islam. To the conspiracy theorist inside me these reasons just do not suffice.

The internet has opened new avenues of expression and protest for disgruntled citizens. Blogging websites and youtube are examples of this upcoming drive towards online citizen participation. In a country like Pakistan, where freedom of speech is a dream tainted far too long and yet never close to being materialized, these platforms offer a means of saying out loud all that you cannot say otherwise and actually being heard by at least some one some where.

Thus, I believe it is quite possible that the ban on youtube could be in the light of growing online citizen protest and not the above stated reasons given by the State. More so, it is worth noting that the ban remains despite the fact that the content deemed offensive by Pakistani authorties has been taken offline.