DIGITAL LIFE

Pakistan blocks Wikipedia for blasphemous and anti-Islamic content

Wikipedia disappeared from Pakistan for not removing “illegal” content. For the platform's owners, this is an attack on free knowledge.

In early February, the Telecommunications Authority of Pakistan sent a notice to the Wikimedia Foundation board of directors to suspend Wikipedia services in the country. The organization had 48 hours to remove content deemed illegal by the Pakistani authority. The parties could not come to an agreement, and therefore the most popular source of Internet knowledge was completely blocked.

Pakistan – attacks, famine and censorship...The situation in Pakistan is dramatic. climate crisis, acute malnutrition – especially among children – numerous diseases and epidemics and, in addition, bombings, leading to unstable social moods. To make matters worse, the country's citizens lost access to an important source of knowledge, which was Wikipedia. Why? For blasphemous content.

The Pakistani official said yes. About official website of Wikimedia Foundation It has been reported that internal reports show that Wikimedia and Wikipedia services are not available in Pakistan – until recently, they were used by more than 50 million users.

Attack on Equal Access to Information...It is not entirely clear what publications this was about, but from a study carried out by OpenNet Initiative According to the report, the Pakistani government demanded a response to content that is “blasphemous, anti -Islamic or that threatens internal security,” meaning the scope can be enormous. Interestingly, this is not the first move of its kind, because the censorship body has already targeted major social media platforms – in 2008, access to YouTube was blocked, and in 2020, TikTok suffered the same fate.

“The Wikimedia Foundation believes that access to knowledge is a human right. Wikipedia is the world's largest online encyclopedia and the leading source of trusted information for millions. It is an ever-growing record of history that gives people from all walks of life the opportunity to contribute to the understanding of their religion, heritage and culture.”

The position of the Wikimedia Foundation is clear – the organization considers the attitude of the Pakistani office as an attack on free knowledge and equal access to information. In an official note, the entity stated that the authorities' reaction destroys the reliable work of the community of editors, providing educational and historical content.

Wikipedia representatives are still in talks with the Pakistani government to restore access to the platform's resources in the country, but the interests of both sides are at odds. The site wants to oppose censorship and has even published a special tab on attempts to block Wikipedia by authorities in various countries. At this point, it's unclear when – or if – the Wiki will be revived in Pakistan. However, the platform owners are optimistic.

“We hope that the government of Pakistan will join the Wikimedia Foundation in its commitment to recognize knowledge as a human right and quickly restore access to Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects so that the people of Pakistan can continue to receive and share knowledge. with the world. .”

by Patryck Koncewicz