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Tuesday, November 05, 2024  
03 Jumada Al-Awwal 1446  

Wikipedia restored in Pakistan after PM Shehbaz gives orders

Forms a committee on matters related to Wikipedia and other online content
The development comes after the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) banned Wikipedia for not “blocking/removing sacrilegious content” within the 48-hour deadline given on February 4. Reuters/File
The development comes after the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) banned Wikipedia for not “blocking/removing sacrilegious content” within the 48-hour deadline given on February 4. Reuters/File

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered the immediate restoration of Wikipedia, a popular online encyclopedia, that was banned by the telecom regulator last week.

“The Prime Minister has also constituted a Cabinet Committee on matters related to Wikipedia and other online content,” Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a tweet.

Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia that is free, crowdsourced, editable. It is often used as a starting point by millions across the world for basic information.

The development comes after the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) banned Wikipedia for not “blocking/removing sacrilegious content” within the 48-hour deadline given on February 4. The move was condemned by many users, lamenting that the country was heading back to old days when YouTube was also banned.

But, the Wikimedia Foundation had said it “does not make decisions around what content is included on Wikipedia or how that content is maintained”.

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Shehbaz Sharif

Prime Minister

wikipedia

Wikipedia in Pakistan