ISLAMABAD – The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Saturday blocked Wikipedia in the country for not removing the “sacrilegious content”.
Wikipedia, hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, is a free, crowdsourced encyclopedia used by millions of people across the globe for basic information on virtually everything.
The PTA this week degraded Wikipedia services across Pakistan for not complying with the directives and gave it a 48-hour deadline for removal of the controversial content from the website.
According to PTA spokesperson Malahat Obaid, the ban had primarily been imposed for non-compliance with the orders.
“The decision can be reviewed once Wikipedia removes sacrilegious content that has been identified by the regulatory authority,” Obaid was quoted as saying by the media.
Upon trying to log on to the Wikipedia website, users see the message: “this site can’t be reached.”
Pakistan, the second-largest Muslim-majority country in the world, has banned video streaming platforms and dating apps in the past on charges of spreading “immorality” or promoting “blasphemous content”.
In September 2020, Pakistan blocked Tinder, Grindr and three other dating apps for not adhering to local laws. The PTA said it had taken the decision to curb the “negative effects of immoral/indecent content streaming”.
In November 2021, a Pakistani court reversed the ban on short-form video hosting service TikTok after the government assured it would monitor “immoral” content on the app with the company.
Similarly, the South Asian country banned YouTube in 2012 after an anti-Islam film was uploaded to the site. The ban was finally lifted in 2016 after remaining in place for years.