Pakistan has threatened to block Wikipedia on its soil if the participatory online encyclopedia does not remove content it deems “blasphemous” by Friday.
Social media giants Facebook and YouTube have been blocked in the past for the same reason in this Muslim country, where the issue of blasphemy is particularly sensitive.
The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) announced on Wednesday that it had given Wikipedia until Friday night to remove the content in question, about which it did not provide any details. Meanwhile, the encyclopedia will operate in “degraded” mode, with its access restricted in the country, the PTA had indicated. Some Wikipedia pages have already been censored in the past in Pakistan.
Free speech advocates have long criticized the censorship imposed by various governments and their control over the internet and the media. “The ban is disproportionate, unconstitutional and downright ridiculous,” said Usama Khilji, a digital rights advocate. “It will affect students, academia, the health sector, researchers and limit investor confidence in Pakistan due to uncertainty and arbitrary censorship,” she added.
previous blocks
Pakistan blocked Facebook for two weeks in 2010 after posting allegedly blasphemous content. YouTube remained inaccessible there from 2012 to 2016 due to the broadcast of an Islamophobic amateur film that sparked violent protests in many countries.
More recently, the popular video-sharing platform TikTok has been repeatedly blocked in the country for content deemed “indecent” and “immoral.”
Source: BFM TV
