YouTube gives three Asian countries their own homepages

YouTube hasn't officially been a thing in Pakistan since 2012 when the country blocked the video sharing service over its refusal to remove Innocence of Muslims, a low-budget schlockfest that depicted the Prophet Mohammed. However, that could soon change as Google debuted a trio of new, localized homepages for Pakistan, as well as Sri Lanka and Nepal, on Tuesday.

These sites won't deliver YouTube in its entirety, but rather curated versions that each nation's officials find more agreeable. Or, as the Google blog post states, "provide an even more tailored YouTube experience by launching versions that are optimised for Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka." Plus each country's new homepage will highlight and promote local content creators, filmmakers and musicians. There is no word from Pakistani officials yet as to whether or not this step will be sufficient to officially lift the ban.