A month after blocking dozens of tweets and user accounts in Pakistan, Twitter has finally restored access to these accounts.
The micro blogging site had earlier imposed restrictions on accounts after receiving five batches of official complaints from the country’s telecoms authority on the grounds that the content was “blasphemous” and “unethical.”
The watch dog claimed several of the accounts and tweets to be anti-Islamic mocking the Prophet Muhammad, photos of burning Qurans, and messages from anti-Islam bloggers.
Twitter announced on Tuesday that it has decided to drop the ban in absence of sufficient clarification from Pakistani authorities. It initiated the move working with Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, a website that keeps track of takedown notices sent to internet-based organisations.
The social networking giant in a statement posted on the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse website said, “On May 18, 2014, we made an initial decision to withhold content in Pakistan based on information provided to us by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority. Consistent with our longstanding policies we provided notice to all of the affected account holders and published the actioned takedown requests on Chilling Effects to maximize transparency regarding our decision.
“We have reexamined the requests and, in the absence of additional clarifying information from Pakistani authorities, have determined that restoration of the previously withheld content is warranted. The content is now available again in Pakistan.”
