Twitter removes restrictions on accounts and 'blasphemous' tweets in Pakistan

SAN FRANCISCO, June 18 (UPI) -- Twitter said Tuesday it had removed restrictions on certain tweets and accounts in Pakistan after they were blocked last month on request from the government.

The company said it informed the blog Chilling Effects, a site that monitors cease-and-desist requests sent to online companies, of its decision to drop the ban on the blocked tweets and accounts. The Pakistani government had asked Twitter to block tweets that were "blasphemous" and "unethical" as many of them mocked Islam.

"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," Twitter told the site.

"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 maximise transparency regarding our decision.

We have re-examined the requests and, in the absence of additional clarifying information from Pakistani authorities, have determined that restoration of the previously withheld content is warranted."

Twitter on May 18 used its Country Withheld Content tool to block this content, this being its first use in Pakistan. Twitter's decision was criticized at the time by freedom-of-speech organizations including Reporters Without Borders.

Twitter has used the tool in other countries as well -- they blocked a neo-Nazi account in Germany, homophobic tweets in France and tweets in India that claimed a soda company had distributed contaminated products.