[governance] Facebook Ban in Pakistan - Looking into various perspectives

[Fouad Bajwa]

The following article was being shared amongst the members of a key
mailing list on the issue in Pakistan. Kindly note that this message
is being shared for information purposes only and shows the duality of
Facebook's Terms of Service that has incited the actions that were
undertaken to ban Facebook and another 600 websites. Kindly, also read
the the communication between the writer and Facebook to understand
how an issue is being ill-treated. In the next message I will forward
the copy of a joint statement by SAFMA (South Asia Free Media
Association) on the Facebook Ban:

QT/;

By Saad Mustafa Warraich, Karachi – Pakistan

I had been banned from Facebook and my account had bn disabled a night
before Facebook was banned in Pakistan. Before all this happened, I
visited the blasphemous page “Draw Muhammad Day” and the content on
the page hurt me badly. Once again a certain group of westerners
called it the “freedom of expression” and went on to show extremism –
something they always verbally disassociate themselves from.

As a response to this lunacy, I thought it best to find out how they
respond to others’ right of freedom of expression – I created an Adolf
Hitler page right away and it read, “To all those who think they can
ridicule Islam in the name of freedom of expression and yet punish
those who speak of the genius of Hitler”.

The comment on the wall read, “Let’s hit them where it hurts them the
most”. Further I added some photos of the Fuhrer, Nazi Party and the
Italian Footballer Paolo Di Canio who was banned and fined by FIFA two
years ago for performing the “controversial” Roman Salute which
according to him gave him a sense of belonging to his people. Within
an hour tens of people joined the Hitler page which was named “H | T L
E R”. The very next time I tried to log in I found out that my profile
had been disabled for ‘violation of Facebook Regulations’.

Facebook’s reply for my inquiry was as following
Hi Saad,

After reviewing your situation, we have determined that your violated
our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. One of Facebook’s main
priorities is the comfort and safety of our users.

We do not tolerate hate speech. Targeting people based on their race,
ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual
orientation, disability, or disease is a serious violation of our
standards and has resulted in the permanent loss of your account.

We will not be able to reactivate your account for any reason. This
decision is final.

Kimmie User Operations,
Facebook

how is it that Hitler is trmd as the most evil person in history of
mankind those that bomb Muslims, comit heinous crimes in thr
countries, ridicule their Prophet and Quran and as a result hurt the
sentiments of 1.2 billion Muslims are hailed as heroes? .

Despite the protest of a large number of Muslims, Facebook has not
removed the blasphemous page from the website.

According the statement issued by Facebook their policy is to withhold
such content in countries where it is controversial. The statement
specifically says that we do not remove Nazi content from Facebook
because it is illegal only in a few countries. 2 statements go, this
one takes the prize. Perhaps b4 issuing the statement the Facebook did
not realise that words like “Adolf Hitler”, “Sieg Heil” and “Nazi” are
not allowed to be usd on Facebook to create new pgs.

if all this and the removal of Hitler page and the permanent
deactivation of my profile isn’t enough, here is a testament to
Facebook’s vile hypocrisy. The statement issued by Facebook on 20 May
says, “We strongly believe that Facebook 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.”

While, in another instance, Facebook replied me in entirely different
way. Excerpt and screenshot is given above.

Now these two conflicting statements speak volumes about the
discrimination by the Facebook. It simply means that Facebooka wants
the world to believe that they are the torchbearers of freedom of
expression and allow everyone to speak their minds out. On the other
hand the face that individuals like me get to see is a much horrible
one. It talks about hate and intolerance and all forms of so-called
equality and unshakable resolve.

, I wonder what gives them the right to remove a major chunk of my
life from the web.

I will always hate "Facebook"
By Zain Alvi, Sr. Manager- International at Aptech
/QT;
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