Pakistani officials are targeting social media websites and may be in the works of limiting the access to certain websites. Just last Sunday, their government blocked Twitter after the micro-blogging website refused to take down material that was similar to the drawings posted of Prophet Muhammad on Facebook. The block was temporary and the website is now back up.
Now the Pakistani government is aiming for Facebook and several other websites. They filed a criminal case but as of yet we don’t have the details.
The offensive drawings were depictions of Prophet Muhammad and were part of the “Draw Mohammad Day”. Although Facebook complied by the rules and took down the content, the Pakistani government is still taking matters into their own hands. They filed a First Information Report with the Margalla police in Islamabad.
Facebook and the other unnamed websites are not the only ones targeted in this case. They have also filed against Payam TV because they broadcast a movie called ‘Yousaf’
Two years ago, there was a court-ordered ban on Facebook, Wikipedia, and Youtube which resulted in a temporary block.
The problem with social media being accessible all across the world is that although it’s primarily accepted by most cultures in the world, there are still many more cultures who find fault with websites that allow people to publicize everything. Pakistan is one of those countries.
Although there is still not a whole lot know about the report that was filed or what’s going to happen next, there is still the possibility that Facebook could settle the matters in the next few weeks. No matter what happens, there is still a strong possibility that Pakistan could change their laws regarding the use of social media and how their citizens use it. I highly doubt that the Pakistani government will completely block the use of social media but they just might make some significant changes to the laws.
