Islamabad: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) “Degraded” services of expansive online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, in country claiming that censorship was on “Account of not blocking/removing sacrilegious contents” and warned of blocking site if it fails to comply with directions.

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

In statement, telecommunication authority said that it had approached and urged Wikipedia to block or remove “Sacrilegious” contents by issuing notice under applicable law and court order(s).

“An opportunity of hearing was also provided,” statement added, “however, platform neither complied by removing blasphemous content nor appeared before Authority.” As result of “Intentional failure” on part of platform to comply with PTA directions or to appear before it, its services were “Degraded” throughout country for 48 hours. Moreover, directions to block/remove reported contents had also been given.

Published in The Daily National Courier, February, 02 2023

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