Facebook Taking Down Pages Deemed Insulting to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

Facebook, the world’s largest social network, has started censoring pictures of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) after a Turkish court’s decision.

The decision came on Sunday, when the court demanded that the social network take down or block access to pages which were deemed hurtful to Muslims on account of insult to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Just weeks earlier, the network’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg made a statement regarding his support for freedom of speech and expressed solidarity with victims of the attack on the French magazine.

Meanwhile, Facebook’s compliance with this order is being criticised by many as a contradiction of its freedom of speech stance. However, the fact that 40 million Facebook users reside in Turkey may have something to do with this move.

Since the social network operates globally, it is bound to comply with local laws of countries. According to a recent transparency report published by Facebook, the Turkish government asked the company to remove 1,893 pieces of content in the first half of the previous year.

Debates on religious sensitivities and freedom of speech have taken the center stage following the attack on Charlie Hebdo, which led to the deaths of more than 10 people, including prominent cartoonists and a Muslim policeman.

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Posted by Hunain Naseer on Jan 28 2015. Filed under Latest News, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.