Pakistan has blocked access to Wikipedia for not removing what it denounced as blasphemous content, the host of the world’s largest free online encyclopedia said Saturday. The Wikimedia Foundation demanded that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) immediately reverse the ban, and said, it “believes that access to knowledge is a human right.” The ban denies “the fifth most populous nation in the world access to the largest free knowledge repository,” the platform said in a statement. “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.” A spokesperson for the PTA was quoted as confirming to local media it had blocked Wikipedia services in the country for not complying with directives for the removal of “unlawful” content from the platform. “The decision can be reviewed once Wikipedia removes sacrilegious content that has been identified by the regulatory authority,” PTA spokesperson Malahat Obaid told the English-language Dawn newspaper
The state regulator Wednesday “degraded” Wikipedia services across Pakistan and linked its full restoration to “blocking/removal” of the reported content by late Friday, according to a Twitter post. The PTA did not elaborate. Wikipedia was approached for blocking/removal of the said contents by issuing a notice under applicable law & court order(s). An opportunity of hearing was also provided, however, the platform neither complied by removing the blasphemous content nor appeared before the Authority. pic.twitter.com/6dWRcbxHGB The ban on Wikipedia drew criticism from Pakistani social media activists and users, demanding the government review the decision and denouncing it as “regressive” and “harmful” for the country’s global image. Blasphemy is a highly sensitive issue in the Muslim-majority South Asian nation of about 220 million people and it carries the death penalty under Pakistani laws.
