The Government of Pakistan decided to block Wikipedia on its territory for failing to remove controversial content from its website.
Pakistan ‘s telecommunications regulator blocked the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia from its national service on Saturday after the content page missed a 48-hour deadline to remove sacrilegious material from its space.
” Wikipedia has been banned in Pakistan for failing to remove sacrilegious content from its website ,” Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) spokeswoman Malahat Obaid confirmed .
Wikipedia is blocked in Pakistan for “sacrilegious content”
The PTA had demoted Wikipedia services across the country on Wednesday for failing to comply with directives for the removal of controversial content from its website.
However, “the decision may be reviewed once Wikipedia removes sacrilegious content from its website ,” the spokeswoman added today.
The PTA said in a statement on Wednesday that it had contacted Wikipedia to ask it to remove the material considered blasphemous, by issuing a notice in accordance with Pakistani law and court orders, according to the EFE agency .
“An audience opportunity was also provided, however, the platform did not comply with removing the blasphemous content or appear before the Authority,” he indicated in the letter that he does not specify details or examples of what content is considered offensive.
Pakistan’s demands on tech giants
Pakistani authorities have tried on other occasions to force Google and Wikipedia to delete “sacrilegious” content against Islam, sometimes referring to allowing searches and content of the Ahmadi doctrine.
The Ahmadi sect is highly persecuted in Pakistan , a country where the Penal Code prohibits them from “posing as Muslims”, calling their temples mosques or selling texts from their community.
Other platforms have been blocked in the past for content deemed immoral by conservative and Islamic Pakistan , including dating apps Tinder, Grindr, Tagged, Skout and SayHi .