Pakistan Lifts Ban on Wikipedia After Less Than a Week
The ban on Wikipedia was lifted in Pakistan early on Tuesday morning, less than a week after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting ordered it banned over publishing “blasphemous content.” Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif ordered an end to the ban late on Monday. It is not known exactly what the ministry objected to on Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia.
The Wikimedia Foundation said in a statement that the lifting of the ban “means that the people of Pakistan can continue to benefit from and participate” in the growth of a global movement “to spread and share knowledge that is verified, reliable and free.” The statement also said: “We respect and support the editorial decisions made by the community of editors around the world.”
The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority last week gave Wikipedia 48 hours to remove content deemed “blasphemous,” before it blocked the website. With Wikipedia’s reinstatement, a ministerial committee will be established to further examine the issue, according to the prime minister’s office.
