Pakistan threatens Google, Wikipedia over ‘sacrilegious content’

Pakistan regulators on Friday decried web giants Google and Wikipedia for “disseminating sacrilegious content.”
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) referred to as for the quick removing of “unlawful content” from Google. The regulators pointed to pages that title spiritual chief Mirza Masroor Ahmad as the present “Khalifa” or chief of Islam, thus contradicting dominant spiritual beliefs within the nation. They additionally decried an “unauthentic version of Holy Quran” on Google Play Store.
“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,” the PTA stated in an announcement printed on its official Twitter deal with.
Mirza Masroor Ahmad is honored as a Khalifa by members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim neighborhood, a persecuted minority in Pakistan.
“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,” the Pakistani regulator added.
Clampdown on TikTok, Tinder, Grindr
In latest months, the federal government of Pakistan has sought to train higher management over the digital sphere by approving a draft coverage which critics say opens the door to mass censorship.
The transfer triggered a backlash from rights teams and tech firms, with activists saying that authorities are in search of to regulate the digital area to stop criticism towards the federal government and Pakistan’s highly effective navy.

In October this 12 months, Pakistan banned video-sharing platform TikTok over objectionable content material. Weeks earlier, the nation had banned a number of courting apps, together with Tinder and Grindr, in a bid to limit “immoral” and “indecent” content material.