Pakistan court orders Facebook access restored

Monday, 31 May, 2010

LAHORE: A Pakistani court on Monday ordered authorities to restore access to the social networking website Facebook, nearly two weeks after it was blocked nationwide in a row over blasphemy.
Justice Ejaz Chaudhry of the Lahore High Court issued the directive after ordering the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority on May 19 to block Facebook over “blasphemous” drawings of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) that appeared on the website.

“Restore Facebook. We don't want to block access to information,” Chaudhry told the court. —AFP

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/...ontent-library

salam
as a muslim we should boycott facebook forever
kya unhun nay koi maafi mangi k hum 31may ka wait kar rhay hain k jald facebook open ho

we all should bycott the facebook,if the govt hs restored the access 2site,its just like;one insult us n we say we'll nt talk to u 4 three to 4 dayz bt we will be bst frndz aftr dt...so,ths is nt acceptable 2 any true muslim...the post of brothr saad showz dt all there rules n principles r fake...nd r jst for muslims,there aim wz to hurt us,so y to join dt again???it is estimatd dt facebook will recovr its loss within 3-4dayz...its a humble request to all the muslim membrz here to quit facebook forever as we hve our own millatfacebook nw...n shw them dt we hve the ability to stand against ths act n we cnt forgive the people who insultd our Prophet S.A.W.W...being a muslim its our duty...

Pakistan lifts Facebook ban

By BABAR DOGAR -- Associated Press

LAHORE, Pakistan — Pakistan lifted a ban on Facebook on Monday after officials from the social networking site apologized for a page deemed offensive to Muslims and removed its contents, a top information technology official said.

The move came almost two weeks after Pakistan imposed the ban amid anger over a page that encouraged users to post images of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Many Muslims regard depictions of the prophet, even favorable ones, as blasphemous.

"In response to our protest, Facebook has tendered their apology and informed us that all the sacrilegious material has been removed from the URL," said Najibullah Malik, secretary of Pakistan's information technology ministry, referring to the technical term for a Web page.

Facebook assured the Pakistani government that "nothing of this sort will happen in the future," Malik said.

Officials from the website could not immediately be reached for comment. They said earlier the contents of the "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!" page did not violate Facebook's terms.

The 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 Muhammad in a bear suit during an episode earlier this year.

Pakistan blocked Facebook on May 19 following a ruling by one of the country's highest courts. The Lahore High Court reversed its ruling Monday because of Facebook's response, Malik said.

As of midday, access to Facebook inside Pakistan was still restricted. But Malik said the government has issued instructions for Internet service providers to restore access to the website.

Users outside the country confirmed the page that sparked the recent uproar was no longer accessible.

The government will continue to block some Web pages that contain "sacrilegious material," but Malik declined to specify which ones.

The Facebook controversy sparked a handful of protests across Pakistan, many by student members of radical Islamic groups. Some of the protesters carried signs advocating holy war against the website for allowing the page.

Bangladesh also decided to block Facebook on Sunday but said it would restore access to the site if the offensive material was removed.

It is not the first time that images of the prophet have sparked anger. Pakistan and other Muslim countries saw large and sometimes violent protests in 2006 when a Danish newspaper published cartoons of Muhammad, and again in 2008 when they were reprinted. Later the same year, a suspected al-Qaida suicide bomber attacked the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, killing six people.

Anger over the Facebook controversy also prompted the Pakistani government to block access to YouTube briefly, saying there was growing sacrilegious content on the video sharing website. The government restored access to YouTube last week but said it would continue to block videos offensive to Muslims that are posted on the site.

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"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."
Helen Keller

Bangladesh also imposed ban on face book on May 30..there were several letters Published in Dawn against govt' decison to impose ban on Face book..the senders emphasised that govt should block only controversial pages and U Tubes,as Facebook connected people from their loved ones..May I ask,is FaceBook is the only way to connect us from the rest of the world..?where were our relatives before Facebook'invention???

__________________
Fight for your dreams & your dreams will fight for you.

being true muslims... v should restrict ourselves to use facebook even if govt lifts ban....

MOHAMMAD (S.A.W.W) KI MHBT DEEN'E HAQ KI SHRT'E AWAL HAI
ISI ME HO AGR KHAMI, TO IMAAN NAMUKAMIL HAI

SAY NO TO FACEBOOK

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Don't judge my path... for you haven't walked my journey...

i second maha's opinion. it was embarrasing how not only people who sent letters but some so-called intellectuals criticized the decision of the court. some of these intellectuals and columnists were the same who always talk abt restoration of judiciary. people like baber sattar and many other columnists who potray themselves as liberals completely forgot that respecting the decisions of the court and peaceful protests are all liberal democratic values. rather these fickle westophobics only remembered that they were becoming laughing stock in front west. hope they truly learn some liberal values.

__________________
It takes courage to live with disappointments.

its about the facebook addiction. there are many people who cannot spend a day without logging into facebook. they need sometime to accept the reality.Moreover we got to beat these YANKYS intellectually rather than making a muss and a fuss.

@sassi sehar
its not about the westophobics madam. i think you are living in the ancient times, its an era of technology. we have to accept that we MUSLIMS are no where near to the westerns in the technology race . if we have to curb this incessant sacrilege , we have to efface this street agitation and beat them intellectually.We have to see what we are capable of. we are capable of doing protests on the streets.this agitation would not harm them instead it would give them sense of superiority and they would perpetuate what they have been perpetuating since long. we have to fight this cyber war but it can not be fought on streets.

@maha khan
i have a question why do always third world muslim countries resort to banning things, why not arabs and turks. do u think QUAID E AZAM would have done the same keeping in view about his ideology

@jiashah
if u think they would stop by ur emotional and knee jerk attitude then i m afraid u are living in the fools world

Pakistan has lifted a ban on Facebook after the social networking site apologised for a page deemed offensive to Muslims and removed its contents.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/me...y-1988018.html

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LHC says permanent ban will be imposed if again FB resorted to such heinous acts. It is all due to the LHC and protests and boycotts of the people of Pakistan.

@ scsaus

Don't underestimate your strength. If we are united then we can do everything but our mutual rivalries, conflicts and clash of ideas is the biggest obstacle in order to show our strength. Molly Norris apologized for her role in the controversy and now Facebook. It shows that they are repentant on their shameful acts because they are losing revenue and secondly Fb is ranked second and now myspace is on 1st due to that issue and protests of Muslims all over the world.

Read my previous post in this thread to know the stance of Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal about such issues.
http://www.cssforum.com.pk/186579-post18.html

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No matter how fast i run or how far i go it wont escape me, pain, misery, emptiness.

thats what i am saying , muhammad ali jinnah was not the one who wanted that kid to have that fate that others wanted. QUAID E AZAM WAS THE MAN OF LOGIC and we get provoked by the non muslims mostly who do not believe in their own religions. most of them are atheists and with these protests we can not make them follow our religion. we have to beat them morally and intellectually