News
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Countrywide protests against Facebook caricatures
* Religious parties protest in Karachi, demand apology from social
networking site
* Facebook expresses disappointment at being blocked
KARACHI: Pakistani protesters shouted “Death to Facebook”, “Death to America” and burnt US flags on Friday, venting growing anger over “sacrilegious” caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) on the Internet.
A Facebook user organised an “Everyone Draw Muhammed Day” competition to promote “freedom of expression”, inspired by an American woman cartoonist, but sparked a major backlash in the country of 170 million.
Islam strictly prohibits the depiction of any prophet as blasphemous and the row has sparked comparison with protests across the Muslim world over the publication of satirical cartoons of the Holy Prophet in European newspapers in 2006.
The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) banned access to Facebook, YouTube and more than 450 links, including restricted access to Wikipedia in view of what it called “growing sacrilegious content”.
The PTA released a toll-free telephone number and email address, and has acted on complaints received by the regulator.
Apology necessary: In Karachi, religious parties mobilised hundreds of protesters onto the streets to demand a ban on Facebook and an apology from the social networking site for humiliating Muslims.
Activists shouted slogans such as “Death to Facebook”, “Death to America” and branded the US the “root cause of all mischief” at the peaceful rallies.
In Multan, hundreds of people rallied, burning US flags and tyres to block traffic before dispersing peacefully.
About 250 people demonstrated in Rawalpindi, as well as Peshawar, where they chanted “Death to Facebook, death to Youtube”, an AFP reporter said.
In Lahore, the Islami Jamiat Taliba, Imamia Students Organisation, Khaksar Tehreek and other organisations staged rallies and demos to condemn Facebook.
Disappointed: Facebook expressed disappointment at being blocked and said it was considering whether to make the offending page inaccessible in Pakistan. YouTube, the Google-owned video-sharing site, said it was “working to ensure that the service is restored as soon as possible”. afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk
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