ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan lifted a . Ban on Wikipedia services . Before dawn Tuesday, after the country’s media regulator blocked the site . last week for allegedly not removing blasphemous content, claiming it hurt Muslim sentiments.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif ordered . The lifting of the blockade late on Monday, a government statement said. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority . Blocked the site on Friday after a deadline for Wikipedia to remove . Controversial Pakistani content expired.
The ban has drawn criticism and many . Have condemned Islamabad’s move, saying it infringes on. Digital rights and deprives the public of its right to seek knowledge.
As outrage grew, Pakistan’s Information Minister Maryam Aurangzeb said on . Monday that Sharif’s five-member committee had looked into the matter. And ordered the immediate restoration of Wikipedia services.
The government did not . Provide any explanation or details about the content it deemed. Anti-Islamic, and the media regulator never explained . What content allegedly hurt Muslim sentiments in Pakistan.
Under . Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law, anyone found guilty of insulting . Islam or its figures can be sentenced to death, although the country . Has yet to impose the death penalty for blasphemy. Wikipedia
But even accusations of crime are . Often enough to trigger mob violence and even deadly attacks. International and domestic rights groups say blasphemy. Charges have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal scores.
The Wikimedia Foundation welcomed the lifting of the ban. Its statement said lifting the. Ban would mean “the people of Pakistan can enjoy and take part in . The growth of a global movement “to spread and share verifiable. Reliable and free knowledge”. Wikipedia
In the past, Pakistan banned TikTok twice for uploading immoral content. Also, in 2008, Pakistan banned YouTube for videos depicting the Prophet . Muhammad, prompting angry nationwide protests by . Muslims who consider any physical depiction of the Prophet to be blasphemous.
