Toni Dimaano Tech 02.07.2023 04:Feb AM EST

Pakistan PM Orders To Unblock Wikipedia After A Three-Day Ban For 'Blasphemy'

Three days after Pakistan shut Wikipedia due to what government officials perceived to be "sacrilegious" information, users there can now access the website once more.

The unblocking order was issued by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who deemed Wikipedia censorship "not a suitable measure."

The PM Said The Consequences Of The Ban Outweighed The Benefits

"The Prime Minister is pleased to direct that the website (Wikipedia) may be restored with immediate effect," Pakistan's Minister of Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb posted on Twitter

According to Tech Crunch, Sharif established a cabinet committee to address issues with Wikipedia and other online content instead.

This includes researching and recommending alternative technical measures for the removal or blocking access to objectionable content.

The committee will be composed of the ministers for IT and Telecom, Law and Justices, Information and Broadcasting, and Commerce and Communications.

Last Wednesday, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) "degraded" access to Wikipedia, giving its administrators 48 hours to remove offensive material or face repercussions.

Following the orders to take down content, Wikipedia reportedly objected, and on Friday, the PTA in Pakistan promptly shut the website.

In the meantime, Sharif is forming a cabinet committee to look into and recommend different technical measures for removing or blocking access to objectionable content posted on Wikipedia and other online information sites.

The Prime Minister is also taking into account social, cultural, and religious sensitivities, on the basis of proportionality in making this call.

The committee is also expected to provide other recommendations for judicious regulation of illegal content, Engadget writes.

In addition to that, Sharif instructed the committee to deliver its recommendations to the cabinet within a week.

However, the committee members do not have a lot of time to thoroughly evaluate and examine the numerous factors that go into content moderation.

Critics Disapprove Of Pakistan's Decision

The South Asian country's decision to restrict the website drew strong criticism and media attention from around the world.

The action has been condemned by those who claim it violates Pakistanis' right to information access, The Indian Express reports.

"We hope that the Pakistan government joins us in a commitment to knowledge as a human right and restores access to Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects promptly," Wikimedia, the parent firm of Wikipedia, said on Saturday.

The company also reiterated that the Pakistan government should consider how important it is for the people of Pakistan to continue to receive and share knowledge with the world through Wikipedia.

Tech Crunch also detailed that Pakistan has over 50 million monthly pageviews of the English-language Wikipedia.

However, it is important to note that the Wikimedia Foundation does not decide what information is shown on Wikipedia or how it is updated.

This is done on purpose to make sure that articles are the outcome of numerous people working together to decide what information should be displayed on the site, producing richer, more neutral content.

It can be remembered that before Wikipedia, the popular social media sites Facebook and YouTube have already been restricted due to blasphemous content.