"There are more than 1600 words in the list including indecent language, expletives, swear words, slang etc, which have to be filtered," an official at a telecom firm told AFP. Other words and phrases on the list of 1695 terms, issued in English and Urdu, include "monkey crotch", "athlete's foot", "idiot" and "damn", as well as "deeper", "four twenty", "go to hell", "harder", "looser" and "no sex".
The letter accompanying the list said networks must also submit monthly reports on implementation. "We are now witnessing a new ruthless wave of moral policing in the digital communication sphere of Pakistan imposed by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority," country co-ordinator Shahzad Ahmed told AFP.--"By developing extremely detailed lists of allegedly 'offensive' words and forcing telecom operators to filter them out to make our society moral and clean, PTA has not only made a mockery of itself but also of the entire country and its government." The move in the Muslim-majority country sparked derision from local Twitter users.
"Maybe all Pakistanis should keep sending expletive-filled text msgs every 10 minutes and wait for the networks to collapse," tweeted user Shoaib Taimur. Another Twitter user, Fariha Akhtar, posted: "Damage to #ebanking?" after the word "deposit" was discovered on the banned list. "Seriously, why aren't we protesting this ban?," tweeted Sara Muzzamil. "Jokes apart, they've banned words that have no vulgar implications whatsoever." Several Twitter users also questioned the inclusion of the term "ass puppy" on the list, saying they had never heard of it.
An unconfirmed list has been circulating online. Some Pakistanis have expressed their delight and gratitude, saying the list has taught them so many forbidden words and provided such a source of mirth. Well done."-One Twitter user, irfanam, tweeted: "#PTA has come up with #PTABannedList because lot of these government functionerios don't want to hear truth about themselves #pakistan". 'They banned 'kiss ass'!'--Bizarrely, if spelt correctly, the word is not banned. It is unclear if the ban has been put into practice yet, but many people say they have tried to send out text messages which include swear words. MahwashB tweets: "You can't use the word "devil". #PTABannedList".
What many people want to know is who the creative genius behind this list of words is? What anonymous bureaucrat has toiled over this list of more than 500 Urdu and 1,000 English expletives and other words for the love of decency in telecommunications? List is 'protection' Khurram It states that mobile phone operators should begin screening the words, provided on a list attached to the letter, within seven days. The ban is a reaction to phone users' complaints that they have been receiving offensive text messages, Mohammad Younis, a spokesman for the PTA, told The Guardian newspaper.
"There are more than 1600 words in the list including indecent language, expletives, swear words, slang etc, which have to be filtered," an official at a telecoms firm told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. PTA officials were unavailable to comment on the ban, which did not appear to have been implemented yesterday as messages containing the words were still transmitted. The letter accompanying the list says networks must also submit monthly reports on implementation.
"We are now witnessing a new ruthless wave of moral policing in the digital communication sphere of Pakistan imposed by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority," country coordinator Shahzad Ahmed told AFP. The move in the Muslim-majority country sparked derision from local Twitter users using the hashtag #PTAbannedlist. "Seriously, why aren't we protesting this ban? Jokes apart, they've banned words that have no vulgar implications whatsoever," tweeted Sara Muzzamil. Several Twitter users also questioned the inclusion of the term "ass puppy" on the list, saying they had never heard of it. It is the first time the country has sought to censor text messages but the PTA has previously blocked websites deemed pornographic or offensive to Islam.
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