Pakistan accuses Wikipedia of allowing blasphemous content, blocks site

Pakistan’s media regulator said on Monday it was blocking Wikipedia’s service in the country for hurting Muslim sentiments by not removing offending content from the site. Critics denounced Islamabad’s action, saying it was a blow to digital rights.

Under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law, anyone convicted of insulting Islam or its figures can be sentenced to death, although the country has yet to implement the death penalty for blasphemy.

Even allegations of violations are often enough to provoke mob violence and even deadly attacks. International and domestic rights groups say blasphemy charges are often used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal scores.

Pakistan’s Telecommunications Authority said it blocked Wikipedia because a 48-hour deadline to remove unspecified content was ignored, according to a spokesman.

“Such a situation hurts the sentiments of Muslims,” ​​said Malahat Obaid, from the regulator.

He said Pakistani authorities are in talks with Wikipedia officials and the ban could be lifted if the platform removes anti-Islamic content.

Before TikTok, YouTube censors

The Wikimedia Foundation, in a statement on Saturday confirming the ban, said it has a “large and engaged community of editors in Pakistan.”

“A Wikipedia block in Pakistan is denying the world’s fifth most populous country access to its largest repository of free knowledge,” the foundation said. “If it continues, it will also reduce everyone’s access to Pakistan’s knowledge, history and culture.”

Mohsin Raza Khan, a Pakistani social media expert, said it is easy to update or change Wikipedia material that is considered sacrilegious or offensive to Muslims – so blocking the site is not the answer.

“Pakistan’s media regulator and other authorities should try to find some viable technical solution to the problem, as blasphemous content is available everywhere,” he said. “It is like a drop in the ocean of knowledge.”

The Lahore-based Digital Rights Foundation has previously called the Wikipedia ban an affront to Pakistani citizens’ right to access information and a mockery of the country’s commitment to upholding its human rights obligations.

In the past, Pakistan banned TikTok twice in quick succession for allegedly uploading “indecent, obscene and vulgar” content.

But the ban was later lifted after TikTok assured Pakistan it would remove indecent content and also block users who upload “illegal content.” The app was downloaded millions of times in Pakistan when the ban was implemented in 2020 and 2021.

In 2008, Pakistan banned YouTube because of videos depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Most Muslims believe that physical depictions of Islamic prophets are blasphemous.