Google, Wikipedia issued notices by Pakistan over 'sacrilegious content'

Pakistan regulators on December 25 threatened internet giants Google, Wikipedia and sent them a notice for “disseminating sacrilegious content”. In an official press release, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) called for the immediate removal of “unlawful content” from Google. They also pointed to online pages that name religious leader Mirza Masroor Ahmad as the current “Khalifa” or leader of Islam, thus contradicting dominant religious beliefs in the country. The regulators even said that the Google Play Store has an “unauthentic version of Holy Quran”. 

The press note read, “Complaints were also received regarding hosting of caricatures of Holy Prophet (PBUH) and dissemination of misleading, wrong, deceptive and deceitful information through articles published on Wikipedia portraying Mirza Masroor Ahmad as a Muslim”. 

“In case the platforms remain non-compliant, PTA shall be constrained to initiate further action under Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (PECA) and Rules 2020,” it added. 

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Pak’s clampdown on social media 

Meanwhile, in recent months, the Pakistani government has sought to exercise greater control over the digital sphere by approving a draft policy that critics say opens doors to mass censorship. PM Imran Khan-led government had announced new rules for social media websites, which aimed at giving greater direct powers to authorities to censor digital content. Imran Khan promised to initiate a "broad-based" consultation on content regulation after a strong backlash from stakeholders over the release of the Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020. 

Under the new rules announced by Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Technology, social media companies and Internet service providers shall provide the designated investigation agency with any information or data is decrypted, readable and comprehensible format, the Dawn newspaper reported. Subject to justifiable technical limitations, the information to be provided may include subscriber information, traffic data, content data, and any other information or data.

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