Facebook may remove contentious page in Pak | World News - Hindustan Times
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Facebook may remove contentious page in Pak

PTI | ByLait K Jha, Washington
May 20, 2010 11:14 PM IST

Disappointed at being blocked in Pakistan for a page encouraging users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, Facebook today said it is analysing the situation and may make the page inaccessible to users in that country.

Disappointed at being blocked in Pakistan for a page encouraging users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, Facebook today said it is analysing the situation and may make the page inaccessible to users in that country.

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"We are very disappointed with the Pakistani Courts' decision to block Face Book without warning, and suspect our users there feel the same way," Facebook said in an e-mail statement made available to PTI here.

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"We are analysing the situation and the legal considerations, and will take appropriate action, which may include making this content inaccessible to users in Pakistan," a Facebook spokesperson said.

"We want Facebook to be a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views, while respecting the rights and feelings of others," the spokesperson said.

The statement from Facebook came after Pakistan blocked access this popular social networking site following a court order over a competition created by a Face Book user who set up a page called "Draw Mohammed Day," inviting people to send in caricatures of the Muslim prophet on May 20.

Depictions of Prophet Mohammed is strictly restricted under Islam religion and us considered as blasphemous by Muslims around the world.

"With now more than 400 million users from around the world, who have varying cultures and ideals, using Face Book as a place to discuss and share things that are important to them, we sometimes find people discussing and posting about topics that others may find controversial, inaccurate, or offensive," said the statement.

While some kinds of comments and content may be upsetting for someone - criticism of a certain culture, country, religion, lifestyle, or political ideology, for example - that alone is not a reason to remove the discussion, the Facebook said.

"We strongly believe that Face Book users have the freedom to express their opinions, and we don't typically take down content, groups or Pages that speak out against countries, religions, political entities, or ideas," said the popular social networking site.

"When dealing with user generated content on global websites, there are occasions where content that is illegal in one country is not (or may even be protected) in another.

For example, Nazi content is illegal in some countries, but that does not mean it should be removed entirely from Facebook, the spokesperson said.

"Most companies approach this issue by preventing certain content from being shown to users in the countries where it is illegal and that is our approach as well," it said.

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