Wikimedia ‘hopes’ Pakistan restores access to all platforms

Wikimedia ‘hopes’ Pakistan restores access to all platforms!

Wikipedia has confirmed the suspension of its services across Pakistan.

The online encyclopedia said that the PTA “blocked Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects in the country”.

Wikimedia Foundation urges Pakistan Telecommunications Authority to restore access to Wikipedia in Pakistan.

The encyclopedia posted a thread of tweets and said that the suspension of its services would deprive the people of Pakistan of the “right to access knowledge”.

“On 1 February, we received a notification from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority stating ‘the services of Wikipedia have been degraded for 48 hours’ for failure to remove content deemed ‘unlawful’. As of 3 February, our data shows this has extended into a full block,” Wikipedia shared a statement in a tweet.

“We believe that access to knowledge is a human right. A block of Wikipedia in Pakistan denies the 5th most populous nation in the world access to the largest free knowledge repository. If it continues, it will also deprive everyone of access to Pakistan’s history and culture,” it added.

“We hope that the Pakistan government joins us in a commitment to knowledge as a human right and restores access to @Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects promptly so that the people of Pakistan can continue to receive and share knowledge with the world,” it added.

 

According to PTA, the restoration of the services of Wikipedia will be reconsidered subject to blocking/removal of the reported unlawful contents.