Pakistan government has banned Wikipedia in the country for 48 hours. The government had ordered the removal of the content containing ‘blasphemy’, but the platform did not remove the content, after which this action has been taken.
Image Credit source: PTI
Pakistan Has banned Wikipedia. After an ultimatum to remove ‘abusive content’ Shahbaz Sarkar Has taken action. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority or PTA had warned of action. The PTA said that Wikipedia was contacted to block the offending content. At the moment it is not clear as to which content the Government of Pakistan is demanding to be removed. The platform neither removed the blasphemous content nor appeared before the authorities, the PTA said in a statement.
On February 1, the Pakistan government instructed Wikipedia to remove ‘blasphemous’ content within 48 hours. After the content was not removed from Wikipedia, the Government of Pakistan decided to block the site. The PTA said in a tweet, “In view of the platform’s willful failure to comply with PTA’s instructions, Wikipedia’s services have been suspended for 48 hours.”
The Government of Pakistan is firm on its demand and has said that if the content is not removed even after 48 hours, then the ban can be extended further. For example, the restoration of service will depend on whether Wikipedia removes content as per the government’s demand.
Wikipedia is banned in these countries too
Interestingly, there is also an article on Wikipedia on ‘Censorship of Wikipedia’. It states that similar restrictions have also been imposed by countries including China, Iran, Myanmar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.
