In a shocking decision the government of Pakistan has banned WordPress.com, the world renowned open-source blogging tool and a content management system.
Users in the country can’t access WordPress.com nor the blogs hosted on it. However, the Self hosted blogs on WordPress are still accessible.
According to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the reason for banning WordPress in the country is ”National Security Related Issues.” PTA is the same authority who previously blocked Twitter, YouTube, Pastebin and several other websites in the country.
See Also: Pakistan May Ban Google Over Blasphemous Content
At the moment users visiting WordPress.com or related blogs are redirected to a message as shown in the screenshot below:
A source inside the PTA who wishes to remain anonymous told us that WordPress was blocked due to its usage by Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an internationally funded terrorist group active in Pakistan and as the authorities don’t have a software that bans specific domain, they prefer to ban the whole platform affecting thousands of bloggers.
The source said WordPress is used by innumerable bloggers in Pakistan, so this ban will be a temporary one.
Talking about a temporary ban, we heard the same thing when the same PTA blocked YouTube in 2012 against an anti-Islam film trailer that was uploaded on YouTube. It’s been three years now and YouTube is still blocked, all in the name of temporary blockage.
We hope our Pakistani fellows will be able to access WordPress soon.