Facebook page that led to Pak ban removed

May 23, 2010 - CHRIS BRUMMITT |

Islamabad

A Facebook page that was considered offensive to Islam and led to a Pakistani ban on the site has been removed, possibly by its creator.
Facebook said on Friday it has not taken any action on the page, which had attracted more than 1,00,000 users and encouraged users to post images of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed, purportedly in support of freedom of speech.
Most Muslims regard any depiction of the prophet, even favourable ones, as blasphemous.
Mr Najibullah Malik, the secretary at Pakistan’s information technology ministry, said earlier on Friday that the government had no option but to shut down Facebook on Wednesday after a court order to do so.
“We know some people are suffering because of this blockade, but we have to obey the court order in letter and spirit,” Mr Malik said.
Pakistan said it would consider restoring Facebook and other sites with related content only if they took down pages considered offensive to Islam.
There was no immediate word on whether the government was lifting the ban.
The Facebook page, called “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!,” had declared on Thursday as the day to draw Mohammed, so it was possible the creator took it down on Friday because the page had served its purpose.
The Facebook page encouraged users to post images of the prophet to protest threats made by a radical Muslim group against the creators of the American TV series “South Park” for depicting Mohammed in a bear suit during an episode earlier this year.

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Google chief suspects ulterior motive in Pak
San Francisco, May 22: Google chief executive Eric Schmidt has said he suspects suppressing political criticism is a factor behind the move to block YouTube and Facebook in Pakistan in the name of Islam.
“I’m always suspicious of these broad bans,” Mr Schmidt told a gathering at non-profit public policy institute New America Foundation. “In every case we looked at, there is an official reason then another reason. There is an awful lot of political criticism they are blocking at the same time.” —AFP

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