JAKARTA - The Pakistani government has finally agreed to unblock Wikipedia, after previously claiming that Wikipedia displays "assusive" content on the site.
This decision came from an official statement made by Syed Tauqi Shah as the Main Secretary of Pakistan's Prime Minister, Sand then shared by the Minister of Information and broadcast Marriyum Aurangzeb.
The statement stated that the issue of blocking the broadcast of Wikipedia by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) on February 3, 2023 had been raised before the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister @CMShehbaz has directed that the Wikipedia website be restored with immediate effect. The Prime Minister has also constituted a Cabinet Committee on matters related to Wikipedia and other online content. pic.twitter.com/fgMj5sqTun
— Marriyum Aurangzeb (@Marriyum_A) February 6, 2023
Responding to the issue, the Prime Minister finally formed a Committee of Ministers for an examination containing the Minister of Law and Justice, the Minister for Economics and Politics, and the Minister for Information and Broadcasting.
After holding the meeting, the Committee argued that Wikipedia is a useful site/portal in supporting the spread of knowledge and information for the general public, students and academics.
"Thus, blocking the site as a whole is not the right action to limit access to some inappropriate content in it," the statement read.
Based on the recommendations above, Pakistan's Prime Minister finally revealed that the website (Wikipedia) will be restored soon.
"Prime Minister @CMShehbaz has directed that Wikipedia's website be restored immediately. The Prime Minister has also formed a Cabinet Committee for matters relating to Wikipedia and other online content," wrote Marriyum Aurangzeb.
First reported by Bloomberg News. The Wikipedia ban comes after the Pakistani government ordered the site to remove offensive content within 48 hours, and the country's telecommunications authority "depleted" the site's services.
While there is no definite deadline for when the Wikipedia website will resume active, Pakistan's prime minister said the site would be restored "soon".
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