The Wikimedia Foundation -- the non-profit fund managing Wikipedia -- told AFP on Monday that it "was made aware that the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) had been directed to restore access to Wikipedia" and hoped to see online traffic in Pakistan "resume soon." Last week, the PTA gave Wikipedia 48 hours to remove content deemed "blasphemous", before it ultimately blocked the website.
An agency spokesman had said Saturday that Wikipedia would "remain blocked until they remove all the objectionable material", without specifying what content was at issue.
- 'Unintended consequences' -
According to the order published Monday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had instructed a committee made up of three government ministers to examine the PTA's decision to block Wikipedia.
The committee found that the "unintended consequences of this blanket ban... outweigh its benefits", the document, signed by principal secretary to the prime minister Syed Tauqir Shah, said.
Another ministerial committee would be established to further examine the issue, it added.
"The people of Pakistan rely on Wikipedia both as a knowledge resource and as a pathway to share their knowledge with others", a Wikimedia spokesperson said.
Pakistan blocked YouTube from 2012 to 2016 after it carried a film about the Prophet Mohammed that led to violent protests across the Muslim world. In recent years, the country has also blocked the wildly popular video-sharing app TikTok several times over "indecent" and "immoral" content.
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Source : HindustanTimes
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