Twitter has unblocked dozens of “blasphemous” accounts in Pakistan

It’s been one month since Twitter decided to comply with Pakistani government wishes and block dozens of user accounts in the country. Now, backpedaling, the social network has reinstated access to these accounts. Working with Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, an organization devoted to protecting legal online activity, Twitter announced on Tuesday that it restored access to the blocked accounts after reexamining the content and determining it didn’t warrant a ban. “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,” Twitter said in a statement. “The content is now available again in Pakistan.” The commotion began after Pakistani authorities deemed dozens of tweets and accounts”blasphemous” or “unethical.” Several of the accounts appeared to be anti-Islamic showing tweets and images mocking the Prophet Muhammad, photos of burning Qurans, and messages from anti-Islam bloggers. Twitter received five requests from the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority to take down the accounts in the beginning of May. And, on May 18, it complied.