The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has launched a crackdown against anti-Islamic “blasphemy” on social media, and Facebook and Twitter are doing little to stop it. According to government sources, Facebook is even assisting Pakistan in removing “blasphemous” content.
Late last week, government officials in Pakistan informed the Islamabad High Court that “almost 85 percent” of “blasphemous” material on Facebook had been taken down at the request of the government.
Facebook has yet to publicly confirm or deny this claim from the Pakistani government. However, earlier this month, Facebook – which claims to be “founded” on “principles of free expression,” dispatched a delegation to Pakistan to address the government’s demand for religious censorship.
At the time of writing, Facebook did not reply to an inquiry from Breitbart News asking the company if they had removed “blasphemous” material to satisfy Pakistan.
Pakistan, a nuclear-armed country which once harboured Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden within its borders, recently launched a crackdown on social media blasphemy. The country’s Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif has ordered authorities to take urgent steps to remove blasphemous content on social media and apprehend those who post it. Last week, three Pakistani bloggers were arrested on suspicion of blasphemy, and had their laptops seized. If convicted, they could face the death penalty.
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