ISLAMABAD: According to The News on Saturday, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) blocked internet access to Wikipedia in the country on Friday due to the website’s refusal to remove content that was allegedly blasphemous or offensive.
In the past, the country’s telecom regulator had reduced the portal’s services.
When a spokesperson for the PTA was contacted late on Friday night and asked if Wikipedia had been blocked, the official said “yes.”
Because the encyclopedia’s website contained blasphemous material, the PTA degraded it for 48 hours in accordance with the high court’s instructions.
According to the spokesperson for the PTA, Wikipedia was approached to block or remove the mentioned content by issuing a notice in accordance with the applicable law and any relevant court orders.
Additionally, a hearing opportunity was provided; however, neither appeared before the authority nor did the platform comply by removing the blasphemous content.
Wikipedia’s services were downgraded for 48 hours with the directive to block or remove the reported content due to the platform’s intentional failure to follow PTA instructions.
Wikipedia’s Pakistani platform has been blocked in the event of non-compliance.
If the illegal content that was reported is blocked or removed, the restoration of Wikipedia’s services will be rethought.
Digital rights activist Usama Khilji commented on the development and criticized the authorities for blocking the information portal.
“Wikipedia, the largest encyclopedia in the world, appears to be blocked by @PTAofficialpk in Pakistan.”
According to the director of Bolobhi, the regulator and the courts need to understand that Wikipedia is a crowd-sourced platform where anyone with an account can edit articles instead of blocking the entire website.
Wikipedia, World’s largest encyclopaedia, appears to be blocked in Pakistan by @PTAofficialpk
— Usama Khilji (@UsamaKhilji) February 3, 2023
Courts & regulator must realise that Wikipedia is a crowd-sourced platform where anyone with an account can edit articles, which they can also do instead of blocking the entire website pic.twitter.com/wIEZzGktio
Wikimedia ‘hopes’ Pakistan restores access to all platforms
Meanwhile, the PTA “blocked Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects in the country,” according to Wikipedia, which confirmed the suspension of its services throughout Pakistan.
In a series of tweets, the encyclopedia claimed that the suspension of its services would deny Pakistanis their “right to access knowledge.”
On 1 February, we received a notification from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority stating “the services of Wikipedia have been degraded for 48 hours” for failure to remove content deemed “unlawful.” As of 3 February, our data shows this has extended into a full block. (2/4)
— Wikimedia Foundation (@Wikimedia) February 4, 2023
“We received a notification on February 1 from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority stating that “the services of Wikipedia have been degraded for 48 hours” for failing to remove content that was deemed “unlawful.” According to the tweet, “our data show this has extended into a full block as of February 3.”
According to the online encyclopedia, “access to knowledge is a human right,” and the fifth most populous nation in the world is being “denied” access to the largest free knowledge repository.
“It will also deprive everyone of access to Pakistan’s history and culture if it continues,” it added.
We believe that access to knowledge is a human right. A block of @Wikipedia in Pakistan denies the 5th most populous nation in the world access to the largest free knowledge repository. If it continues, it will also deprive everyone access to Pakistan's history and culture. (3/4)
— Wikimedia Foundation (@Wikimedia) February 4, 2023
Wikipedia expressed the hope that the Pakistani government would join it in “a commitment to knowledge as a human right and restores access to @Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects promptly” so that Pakistanis could access and share information.
Digital rights activist Usama Khilji commented on the development and criticized the authorities for blocking the information portal.
“Wikipedia, the largest encyclopedia in the world, appears to be blocked by @PTAofficialpk in Pakistan.”
We hope that the Pakistan government joins us in a commitment to knowledge as a human right and restores access to @Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects promptly, so that the people of Pakistan can continue to receive and share knowledge with the world. (4/4)https://t.co/8xM73if9B2
— Wikimedia Foundation (@Wikimedia) February 4, 2023
According to the director of Bolobhi, the regulator and the courts need to understand that Wikipedia is a crowd-sourced platform where anyone with an account can edit articles instead of blocking the entire website.
