Wikipedia ban in Pakistan over alleged blasphemous content material lifted | Censorship Information

‘Unintended penalties’ of a blanket ban ‘outweigh its advantages’, says the federal government after two days of blocking the web site.

Islamabad, Pakistan – A ban on Wikipedia has been lifted in Pakistan two days after it was imposed over alleged blasphemous content material.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday ordered the nation’s telecom regulator to revive the net encyclopaedia with “quick impact”.

“Blocking the positioning in its entirety was not an appropriate measure to limit entry to some objectionable content material,” a press release issued by Sharif’s workplace stated.

“The unintended penalties of this blanket ban, due to this fact, outweigh its advantages.”

The assertion, shared on Twitter by Info Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, additionally stated a committee has been constituted by the federal government to overview the choice to ban the web site in addition to issues associated to “different on-line content material”.

Prime Minister @CMShehbaz has directed that the Wikipedia web site be restored with quick impact. The Prime Minister has additionally constituted a Cupboard Committee on issues associated to Wikipedia and different on-line content material. pic.twitter.com/fgMj5sqTun

— Marriyum Aurangzeb (@Marriyum_A) February 6, 2023

The committee will discover and suggest different technical measures to cope with objectionable content material on Wikipedia or different on-line data websites, retaining in view the “social cultural and non secular sensitivities” of the nation, the place the problem of blasphemy stays a extremely contentious and delicate matter.

At the very least 80 folks have been killed in Pakistan over blasphemy allegations since 1990, based on an Al Jazeera tally, together with members of the family of the accused, their attorneys and a minimum of one decide.

The Wikimedia Basis, which runs Wikipedia, welcomed Pakistan’s transfer to revive the web site.

“Lifting this ban implies that the folks of Pakistan can proceed to profit from and take part in its progress inside a worldwide motion that strives to unfold and share data that’s verified, dependable and free,” it stated.

On February 1, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) introduced it was “degrading” entry to Wikipedia within the nation because of the presence of “sacrilegious content material”, giving the web site 48 hours to take away them. It didn’t specify which content material it discovered sacrilegious.

Two days later, the PTA claimed there was no response from Wikipedia and blocked the web site, resulting in widespread condemnation and outrage within the nation.

In a press release on February 4, the Wikimedia Basis stated the ban “denies the fifth most populous nation on this planet entry to the most important free data repository”.

“If it continues, it’ll additionally deprive everybody entry to Pakistan’s data, historical past, and tradition,” it stated.

The muse additionally stated it doesn’t make selections round what content material is included on Wikipedia or how that content material is maintained.

Pakistan has a historical past of blocking entry to main web sites, on-line video games and social media purposes.

YouTube, the world’s largest video-sharing web site, was blocked for greater than three years within the nation between 2012 and 2016 because of content material thought of “blasphemous” by the PTA.

In 2020, Chinese language social media app TikTok was banned for practically six months for “spreading obscenity and immorality”.