Wikipedia is now accessible again in Pakistan, a few days after the popular online encyclopedia was banned in the country for allegedly hosting "objectionable" content.
Wikipedia"s unblocking was ordered by Shehbaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan. "Blocking the site in its entirety was not a suitable measure to restrict access to some objectionable contents/sacrilegious matter on it," Sharif said in a letter shared on Twitter. "The unintended consequences of this blanket ban, therefore, outweigh its benefits."
Last Wednesday, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) "degraded" access to Wikipedia and warned the platform that their website would be fully blocked in the country if it didn"t remove certain content. Wikipedia apparently didn"t acknowledge the order, which resulted in the website being banned on Friday.
"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, so that the people of Pakistan can continue to receive and share knowledge with the world," stated Wikimedia, the parent company of Wikipedia.
The company further added:
"The Wikimedia Foundation does not make decisions around what content is included on Wikipedia or how that content is maintained. This is by design to ensure that articles are the result of many people coming together to determine what information should be presented on the site, resulting in richer, more neutral articles. We respect and support the editorial decisions made by the community of editors around the world."
In line with this development, Sharif has constituted a cabinet committee that will explore and suggest alternative technical measures for the removal of or blocking access to "objectionable" content posted on Wikipedia and similar websites. The committee will consist of ministers for IT and Telecom, Law and Justices, Information and Broadcasting, and Commerce and Communications. The committee can co-opt any expert members or seek opinion from expert individuals or organizations to reach its findings.