ISLAMABAD – The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Wednesday degraded the services of Wikipedia in the country for 48 hours for not blocking/removing sacrilegious contents.
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 PTA.
“Given the intentional failure on part of the platform to comply with the directions of PTA, the services of Wikipedia have been degraded for 48 hours with the direction to block/remove the reported contents,” the PTA statement reads.
In case of non-compliance by Wikipedia the platform will be blocked within Pakistan, it warned.
The restoration of the services of Wikipedia will be reconsidered subject to blocking/removal of the reported unlawful contents. PTA is committed to ensuring a safe online experience for all Pakistani citizens according to local laws, the official statement said.
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