Pakistan has blocked the popular video sharing website YouTube in a bid to contain blasphemous material. The blockade came hours after the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) directed Internet service providers to stop access to social network Facebook indefinitely on Wednesday because of an online competition to draw the Prophet. PTA authorities on Thursday said it had ordered Internet service providers to completely shut down YouTube and prevent Facebook from being viewed within Pakistan. Meanwhile YouTube said it is looking into the matter and working to ensure that the service is restored as soon as possible. The site was briefly blocked in Pakistan in 2008 – ostensibly for carrying material deemed offensive to Muslims.