Pakistan warns Wikipedia of blocking for "non-removal of 'blasphemous content'

Wikipedia is degraded for 48 hours in Pakistan for failing to remove "sacrilegious content".

Islamabad, Feb 01: The Pakistan government on Wednesday degraded Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia, for 48 hours for failing to do away with "blocking/removing sacrilegious content".

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), in a statement, said that it had approached Wikipedia to remove 'sacrilegious content', but the platform neither complied by removing the blasphemous content nor appeared before the Authority.

"Given the intentional failure on part of the platform to comply with the directions of PTA, the services of Wikipedia have been degraded for 48 hours with the direction to block/remove the reported contents," a tweet from PTA said.

It also warned that in case of non-compliance, Wikipedia would be blocked within Pakistan and its restoration would be "reconsidered subjecting to blocking/removal of the reported unlawful content". "The restoration of the services of Wikipedia will be reconsidered subject to blocking / removal of the reported unlawful contents. PTA is committed to ensuring a safe #online experience for all Pakistani citizens according to local laws," the statement added.

This is not the first time where the Pakistan government has taken action against Wikipedia. In 2020, the PTA had issued had issued notices to Wikipedia and Google Inc for "disseminating sacrilegious content", according to a report Dawn.

However, digital rights experts in Pakistan have slammed the government's move to curtail access to Wikipedia.

"It must be noted that were it the case of spreading hate or inciting violence, a ban would make sense, but since this is not the case and it's just a few articles the move is excessively counter-productive. You can ban information, but the move ended up proving bad for the country's image," Asad Baig, the founder of Media Matters for Democracy, is quoted as saying by Geo TV.

Nonetheless, the report citing digital media experts claims that the online encyclopedia is accessible on some networks.