Wikipedia was banned by Pakistan over the website’s refusal to remove what the establishment termed as ‘blasphemous content’, Pakistan website The News reported. The restoration of the services will be subjected to consideration if the website removes the content. The blacklisting of Wikipedia comes days after the Pakistan Telecom Authority degraded Wikipedia services for 48 hours, threatening to block it if the content deemed ‘blasphemous’ was not deleted. “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”, the Pakistan Telecom Authority tweeted. “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”, it added.

“Wikipedia services have been impaired for 48 hours with the directive to block/remove the reported items,” it said. “Given the purposeful failure on behalf of the platform to comply with the directions of PTA.”

The Pakistani government has already tightened down on social media websites and platforms, an action denounced by many who support freedom of speech there. Usama Khilji, a digital rights activist, told AFP that the ban is “disproportionate, unlawful, and pretty ludicrous,” adding that it will have an effect on students, academics, researchers, and other groups in society. The Wikipedia Foundation has recently pushed Pakistan to reinstate the website. “Pakistan, the world’s fifth most populated country, is unable to access the largest free information repository because of a block on Wikipedia there. If it persists, everyone would lose access to Pakistan’s history and culture “The Foundation tweeted.

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More than 700 YouTube links to an anti-Islamic film were blocked by the Pakistani government in 2012, which led to widespread protests in a number of nations. According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, the highest court ordered the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to restrict the movie’s links.Iftikhar Chaudhry, the chief justice at the time, had ordered the telecom regulator to remove all “sacrilege material” that disdained Islam or the Prophet in any way.

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