by Emm Kay

Facebook Banned

When Facebook says in its terms that it does not allow hate speech against any race, religion or gender, you speak high about this largest social network on the planet. But when it comes to litmus test, Facebook fails badly.

On 19th of May 2010, Facebook was blocked all across Pakistan by Lahore High Court as over 300 young lawyers were protesting against Facebook there. Representative from Pakistan’s telecom regulator (PTA) was summoned by the court to explain his position. He tried to insist that Facebook should not be blocked. However, when the judge was shown that Facebook is itself not abiding its own terms and its soft policy towards racists is hurting the sentiments of people from different religions, the judge asked both parties i.e. telecom regulator and petitioner to solve the matter themselves. In an hour time, both agreed that Facebook should be blocked till 31st of May. The court then announced the ruling.

Millions of Pakistanis were hurt when Facebook allowed hate speech on its website and did not remove it even though hundreds of thousands of complaints were registered. What happened in Bangladesh was also based on the same argument – Facebook should not promote hatred be it religious or racial.

Facebook is back now in Pakistan as well as Bangladesh, however, the question mark on Facebook’s policy in this regard remains there. That is why most of the Pakistanis and Bangladeshi people are still not very happy using Facebook.