The Pakistan government on Monday ordered authorities to unblock Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia, two days after it had banned the website for failing to remove blasphemous content.
In the Islamic republic, blasphemy is a highly sensitive issue. Those convicted of blasphemy can be sentenced to death.
On Monday, Pakistan’s Minister of Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb tweeted a copy of the order to restore the website.
“Prime minister has directed that the Wikipedia website be restored with immediate effect,” Aurangzeb tweeted. “The prime minister has also constituted a Cabinet committee on matters related to Wikipedia and other online content.”
Last week, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority had given Wikipedia a deadline of 48 hours to comply with the directives to remove the content but did not receive any response.
“The decision can be reviewed once Wikipedia removes sacrilegious content that has been identified by the regulatory authority,” he added.
On Friday, the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs the website, had said that it does not make decisions about what content is included on Wikipedia or how that content is maintained.
According to the latest order published on Monday, Sharif had instructed a committee of three government ministers to examine the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s decision to block Wikipedia.
The committee said that Wikipedia was a “useful site/ portal which supported dissemination of knowledge and information for the general public, students and the academia”. It added that unintended consequences of the blanket ban outweighed its benefits.
“Lifting this ban means that the people of Pakistan can continue to benefit from and participate in its growth within a global movement that strives to spread and share knowledge that is verified, reliable and free,” an spokesperson for the website told AFP.
Sharif has directed the constitution of Cabinet Committee to review Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s order and recommend alternative measures for blocking or removal of objectionable content posted on Wikipedia and other websites.
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