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A comment on Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasphemy.

Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by flipbrad on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @09:04AM (#34610529)
"Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has degraded Wikipedia services in the country on account of not blocking / removing sacrilegious contents.

Wikipedia was approached for blocking / removal of the said contents by issuing a notice under applicable law and court order(s). An opportunity of hearing was also provided, however, the platform neither complied by removing the blasphemous content nor appeared before the Authority.

Given the intentional failure on part of the platform to comply with the directions of PTA, the services of Wikipedia have been degraded for 48 hours with the direction to block / remove the reported contents. In case of non-compliance by Wikipedia the platform will be blocked within Pakistan.

The restoration of the services of Wikipedia will be reconsidered subject to blocking / removal of the reported unlawful contents. PTA is committed to ensuring a safe online experience for all Pakistani citizens according to local laws."

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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by beardyw on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @09:57AM (#34611309)
I am trying to think why Wikipedia would care about this. They offer a free service - if you don't want it that's just disappointing.
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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by throwaway09223 on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @10:09AM (#34611495)
They don't care. They know people can get around the blocks.

Wikipedia is more valuable with accurate content, even if some countries make it harder to access.

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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by 131012 on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @12:21PM (#34613932)
May I suggest they really do care about the situation and this is why they refuse to block anything.
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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by trompetenaccoun on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @04:44PM (#34618304)
I don't know regarding Pakistan, but it isn't true that they generally don't care: https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2022/06/13/wikimedia-fo...
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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by jl6 on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @10:01AM (#34611365)
They might care that Pakistani Wikipedia editors and readers alike could find themselves targeted by the Pakistani authorities.
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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by kspacewalk2 on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @10:25AM (#34611758)
Okay, they might care. But they won't care in a way that causes them to censor anything, so it's a moot point. Pakistan is just not going to affect the editorial policy of Wikipedia. They know this, so they made a decision to block the site. Oh well, sucks for Pakistanis, and since it's a democracy, all I can say is - elect better governments.
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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by kibwen on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @10:19AM (#34611642)
By that argument, HN should remove any comment that mentions Tianenmen Square, so that readers in China do not find themselves targeted by the CCP.
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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by jl6 on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @10:26AM (#34611787)
I am certainly not arguing for censorship of Wikipedia, I’m just responding to the comment asking why Wikipedia would care about this situation.
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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by brmgb on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @10:00AM (#34611356)
Then everyone in Pakistan gets deprived of a valuable source of knowledge on virtue of their government being obscurantist.
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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by dncornholio on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @10:23AM (#34611723)
The people who actually care are the Pakistani people. Let them fight it. Wikipedia can and should just keep doing what its doing.
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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by skitter on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @10:08AM (#34611490)
Because people who don't want to access Wikipedia already can decide to not access it, but the ones who want to can't. Pakistan is not a singular person.
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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by kemayo on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @10:01AM (#34611364)
An ideological commitment to free knowledge, mostly. It's upsetting to be cut off from people who could use it.
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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by hulitu on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @03:43PM (#34617402)
It would be nice if it would be free knowledge. But, like the rest of the internet, wikipedia became a victim of people with an agenda (to not say 3 letter agencies).
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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by unixlikeposting on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @12:39PM (#34614287)
They also offer a paid service, with Google notably a customer.
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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by psyfi on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @01:09PM (#34614812)
Because the law of a country (a very populated country) prohibits it.

In the same sense they supposedly would remove whatever violates hate speech laws or copyright laws in some other countries that the ones they operate in.

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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by dctoedt on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @01:28PM (#34615133)
> Because the law of a country (a very populated country) prohibits it

s/law/rulers/g

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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by hulitu on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @03:41PM (#34617365)
> s/law/rulers/g

You don't need to replace them. They are equivalent.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by AnimalMuppet on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @03:47PM (#34617452)
There is a major difference between "rule of law" and "rule of rulers". Yes, rulers make laws. No, that's not the same as the rule of law.
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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by robofanatic on Wednesday February 01, 2023 @12:41PM (#34614335)
> PTA is committed to ensuring a safe online experience for all Pakistani citizens according to local laws.

How would Pakistani citizens be unsafe if that content remains? will there be total chaos? riots? more suicide bombings?

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Re:Pakistani gov degrades Wikipedia connections due to blasp... by ParrotRaj on Thursday February 02, 2023 @07:45AM (#34625769)
Citizens would read blashpemous material, commit blashpemy and then will be lynched by the crowd

Wish it was a joke but sadly lynching due to alleged blashpemy is a huge issue in pakistan. Recently a Sri Lankan citizen was burned alive with a few hundred witnesses who just watched.

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