PTA Issues Notices to Google & Wikipedia on Account of Disseminating Sacrilegious Content

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) issues Notices to Google Inc. and Wikipedia on account of disseminating sacrilegious content through the platforms.

PTA has been receiving complaints regarding misleading search results associated with “Present Khalifa of Islam” and an unauthentic version of the Holy Quran uploaded by the Ahmadiyya Community on Google Play Store. Being a matter of very serious nature, PTA has approached Google Inc. with the directions to immediately remove the unlawful content. The platform has been issued with the notice under Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content (Procedure, Oversight, and Safeguard) Rules 2020 (“Rules”) to remove the sacrilegious content to avoid any legal action by the Regulator.

Complaints were also received regarding the hosting of caricatures of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and dissemination of misleading, wrong, deceptive, and deceitful information through articles published on Wikipedia portraying Mirza Masroor Ahmad as a Muslim. After extensive communication on the matter, Wikipedia has been finally served with the notice to remove the sacrilegious content to avoid any legal action.
In case the platforms remain non-compliant, PTA shall be constrained to initiate further action under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (PECA) and Rules 2020.