In an unfathomable turn of events, famous content management platform WordPress.com has been blocked from access in Pakistan. WordPress.com, which is the first choice for innumerable bloggers around the world, cannot not be reached from within Pakistan anymore, we have confirmed at the time of publication of this piece.
The drastic ban on the famous content platform comes just days after Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) was handed over the responsibility to manage the local internet content. PTA was entrusted with the web content management after the committee responsible for YouTube ban was restrained from its activities by Islamabad High Court.
Related: Prime Minister Gives PTA the Power to Manage Internet Content
We are still trying to confirm if it was a deliberate act and why the need to block a website which is trusted by millions of users globally arose in the first place. This is to be noted here that WordPress is one of the most popular blogging tool in Pakistan and hundreds of thousands Pakistanis are using it to earn a living.
This is a developing story. We have contacted PTA management in regards to this, and will update our readers as soon as we hear back.
UPDATE: 7:33PM – 3 – 22- 2015
An insider has confirmed that in addition to WordPress.com several other websites have also been temporarily blocked in Pakistan due to national security issues.
5 lessons on content virality from founder of Bitchy Urdu Cards