File photo. Lionel Bonaventure—AFP
Pakistan on Monday ended a two-day ban on online encyclopedia Wikipedia, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directing the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to “immediately” restore access to the platform.
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, Sharif’s issued the directions on the recommendation of a three-member ministerial committee comprising Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Economic Affairs Minister Ayaz Sadiq, and Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb. It said the committee had noted that Wikipedia was a “useful site” that was utilized by the general public, students and academia. “Blocking the site in its entirety was not a suitable measure to restrict access to some objectionable contents/sacrilegious matter on it,” it said, stressing that the consequences of the blanket ban far exceeded its benefits.
The prime minister has also constituted a five-member committee comprising the law, IT, information, commerce and communications ministers to review the suitability of the PTA’s blocking of Wikipedia and explore and recommend “alternative technical measures for removal or blocking access to objectionable content posted on Wikipedia and other online information sites, in view of our social, cultural and religious sensitivities, on the touchstone of proportionality.”
The five-member committee has also been tasked to recommend to the federal cabinet measures to “control” unlawful online content within a week.
On Feb. 1, PTA announced that it was “degrading” Wikipedia services in Pakistan over its failure to remove “sacrilegious content.” In a statement, the regulatory watchdog warned that Wikipedia would be outright banned if it didn’t take the required action within 48 hours. After the expiration of the deadline, Wikipedia was banned completely, triggering outrage, especially among students who rely on the encyclopedia as a jumping-off point for research.
In a brief rejoinder, the Wikimedia Foundation, which manages Wikipedia, had said it could not remove any content at Pakistan’s request because it did not control any of the information to ensure neutrality.