edited by: Shankhneel Sarkar
Last Update: February 03, 2023, 16:53 IST
Pakistan’s telecommunications body has not specified to Wikipedia exactly what it wants removed, but has asked the platform to remove profane articles from the site (Picture: Reuters/Representational)
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said that Wikipedia must remove sacrosanct content or face a ban in Pakistan, without specifying which content it wanted removed.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said earlier this Wednesday that Wikipedia will not be accessible to Pakistanis if it fails to remove content deemed blasphemous and profane within 48 hours.
The PTA accused Wikipedia of non-compliance, saying it undermines the services of the free encyclopedia because it failed to comply with directives issued earlier by the organization. The PTA had directed the site to remove the “unlawful” content.
There was no detail from the PTA and it was not specified what content it wanted removed. Pakistanis speaking to local news media outlets said that the site was not accessible in some networks.
“Wikipedia will be blocked in Pakistan,” the PTA said in a statement. speaking to news outlet BloombergWahaj-us-Siraj, chief executive officer of Internet provider Nayatel, said people who use Wikipedia for accessing information and for educational purposes will notice that the site has slowed down and be the first to be affected.
Blasphemy is a hot-button issue in Pakistan and people found guilty of insulting Islam have received the death penalty.
In 2020 a similar decree was issued against Wikipedia. In recent times, TikTok and other social media websites have also faced similar orders from the PTA.
A digital rights expert told live tv After running some tests, they found that Wikipedia was accessible on some networks and remained inaccessible on others.
Digital rights activists also told live tv that the move was a joke. experts we spoke to live tv said that the move to suspend the platforms is counter-productive. He also pointed out that civil society is not taken into account when such decisions are taken.
Asad Baig, who founded Media Matters for Democracy, told live tv It is understandable if this ban incites hatred or violence but it did not.
“Since this is not the case and it is only a few articles, the move is highly perverse. The issue of transparency and magnitude of the judgment deserves scrutiny,” Baig was quoted as saying live tv,
He said that there needs to be a transparent mechanism before taking such a step and added that at present no such mechanism exists, which makes the move suspicious.
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