Social media users have demanded that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) answer why Wikipedia was blocked in Pakistan in the first place, terming the ban a “shameless breach of the constitutional right to information”.
PTA banned Wikipedia for two days over alleged blasphemous content. The ban was lifted after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s orders to the country’s telecom regulator to restore Wikipedia.
Lawyer Hassan Kamal Watoo said the PTA was answerable as to why they “shamelessly breached” people’s “constitutional right to information”.
Wikipedia has been unblocked. But why are you pretending like nothing happened, @PTAofficialpk? Do the Pakistani people not deserve an apology after you shamelessly breached their constitutional right to information?
— Wattoo (@hkwattoo1) February 7, 2023
Barrister Yasif Latif Hamdani tweeted: “The reason for its ban was because of a certain Lahore High Court judge who – in an anti Ahmadi petition – ordered the removal of the page Ahmaddiya translation of Quran.”
I am happy to report that Wikipedia will be unblocked very soon (no thanks to me) on the PM’s order.
The reason for its ban was because of a certain Lahore High Court judge who – in an anti Ahmadi petition – ordered the removal of the page Ahmaddiya translation of Quran.
— Yasser Latif Hamdani (@theRealYLH) February 6, 2023
On the other hand, some claimed that the PTA banned the website due to content related to General (r) Qamar Bajwa.
So this was the “sacrilegious” & “blasphemous material” Gen Incharge of PTA wanted to remove from Wikipedia? https://t.co/3CDgxgnHdK
— Moeed Pirzada (@MoeedNj) February 6, 2023
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan condemned the PTA’s decision to block the site, and said, “the PTA’s decision to ban Wikipedia betrays a wilful lack of understanding of the role that social media play in allowing people to obtain, fact-check, share and respond to news and information.”
The @PTAofficialpk‘s decision to ban Wikipedia betrays a wilful lack of understanding of the role that social media play in allowing people to obtain, fact-check, share and respond to news and information. #wikipediaBlocked pic.twitter.com/UGRsww6nZB
— Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (@HRCP87) February 5, 2023
