The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has blocked access to Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects as a result of a dispute about sacrilegious content. The Wikimedia Foundation has called for the immediate restoration of these services across the country.
On February 1, 2023, PTA informed the foundation that Wikipedia’s services had been curtailed for 48 hours as a result of the website’s refusal to remove “illegal” content as requested by the government.
According to the notification, Wikipedia may be entirely disabled if the foundation doesn’t cooperate. Since February 3, Pakistani users can no longer access Wikipedia or other Wikimedia projects.
The Wikimedia Foundation asserts that having access to knowledge is a fundamental human right. The world’s largest online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia, is used by millions of people to find reliable information and serves as a constantly expanding historical archive.
It enables people of all backgrounds to comprehend the world in a way that is more in line with their beliefs, culture, and tradition.
Pakistan contributes more than 50 million monthly views to the English Wikipedia, with Urdu and Russian Wikipedias following closely after. A dedicated group of editors who contribute significantly to history and education reside in the country.
Pakistan, the fifth-largest nation in the world, is unable to access Wikipedia due to a regional ban. Everyone will lose access to knowledge about Pakistan’s past, present, and wisdom if this trend continues.
The Wikipedia Foundation declares as follows: We hope that the Pakistani government will join the Wikimedia Foundation in a commitment to knowledge as a human right and swiftly restore access to Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects so that the people of Pakistan can continue receiving and sharing knowledge with the rest of the world.
