Services on Wikipedia were reduced for 48 hours due to “sacrilegious content”: PTA
As a result of not “blocking/removing sacrilegious information,” Wikipedia services in Pakistan were reduced for 48 hours, according to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). The telecom regulator said in a statement that it had contacted Wikipedia, a free online encyclopaedia, to request that the offending content be blocked or removed by filing a notification under “relevant law and court order(s)”.
The platform was given the chance to be heard, but failed to do so by removing the offensive material or show up in front of the authorities, according to the PTA statement. The statement said, “Given the platform’s deliberate refusal to comply with the PTA’s orders, Wikipedia services have been downgraded for 48 hours with the direction to block/remove the reported information.
Wikipedia would be blocked in the nation if the regulator’s warning was disregarded, and its restoration would be “reconsidered subject to blocking/removal of the reported unlawful content.” The authority has already taken note of undesirable content on the platform. The PTA has sent warnings to Google Inc. and Wikipedia in December 2020 for “disseminating sacrilegious content.”
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
— PTA (@PTAofficialpk) February 1, 2023
