Wikipedia Blocked In Pakistan Due To Offensive Content

(CTN NEWS) – According to The News, on Friday, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) restricted access to Wikipedia nationwide because the website refused to take down potentially inflammatory or profane content.

The telecom authority has previously downgraded the country’s services for the portal.

Wikipedia has been disabled; the PTA spokesman said when she was phoned late on Friday night and asked about the matter.

The PTA slowed down and disrupted access to the encyclopedia website for 48 hours on the high court’s directive because it included offensive material.

Press Release: PTA has degraded Wikipedia services in the country on account of not blocking / removing sacrilegious contents. pic.twitter.com/h6ZWuf8TnR

— PTA (@PTAofficialpk) February 1, 2023

“Due to the failure of the platform to comply with PTA’s directions, WikI has been degraded for 48 hours with the instruction to block/remove the reported contents,” PTA tweeted.

According to the PTA spokeswoman, “Wikipedia was contacted to prohibit or remove the specified content by issuing a notice pursuant to applicable law and court order (s).”

There was also a chance for a hearing, but neither the platform obliged by removing the offensive material nor did it show up in front of the authority.

Wikipedia’s services were reduced for 48 hours with the instruction to ban or remove the reported items due to the platform’s willful disregard for the PTA’s directives.

Wikipedia, World’s largest encyclopaedia, appears to be blocked in Pakistan by @PTAofficialpk

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

— Usama Khilji (@UsamaKhilji) February 3, 2023

If Wikipedia doesn’t comply, the platform will be blocked inside Pakistan.

If the allegedly illegal content is blocked or removed, the reinstatement of Wiki’s services will be given another thought.

Usama Khilji, a proponent of digital rights, criticized the government for shutting the information portal in his response to the development.

The biggest encyclopedia in the world, Wiki, appears to be censored in Pakistan by @PTAofficialpk.

The Bolobhi director said that rather than shutting down the entire website, the courts and regulators should recognise that Wikipedia is a platform that is crowd-sourced, and anyone with an account can modify entries.

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