image thumb61 Facebook Ban In Pakistan: A Wise ‘Political’ Decision By The Authorities.. Anti Ban People Kindly Hold Your Horses

I was just wandering at work about the recent buildup on the Facebook controversy associated to the Draw Mohammad [PBUH] page, its blockage in Pakistan on the orders of the Lahore High Court. The reaction from the people has been quite pro-decision, as some report that over 90 percent people favored it. Of course there were some liberal folks who think the decision is absolutely rubbish, I personally think it was quite a wise decision for numerous factors.

Now, Startup Meme is by no means a political blog and this post is based more on my personal opinion, triggered primarily by this post by Sana Saleem, who thinks that the ban backfired. I think it was by all means necessary for various reasons and that the post by my fellow blogger appears to be triggered by irrational rush of emotions.

So Why Was The Decision Justified?

I am not aware how many of the anti-Facebook-ban folks are unaware about the slack attitude of Facebook towards this. They just appear to have learned the phrase Freedom Of Speech / Freedom Of Choice and try to use it everywhere, possible forgetting that there has to be a thin line of respect for others, where you exercise this.

Secondly, I am not sure if they are even aware of Facebook’s Terms And Conditions and that if they ever took the pain to go beyond posting status updates, promoting blogs, telling what food they just had or share a few pictures to actually read those. It is clearly stated that obscene stuff and anything that triggers hate against any group, individual, or religion will be banned and removed. We saw this happen with the Holocaust Denial Pages, with Breast Cancer group [removed for woman showing her operated breasts on charged of being ‘sexual’]. If that is not enough, try and read how the Italian authorities chased Google and Facebook when a page for Massimo Tartaglia was asked to be removed for promoting the man who punched the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. And that page was shut down by Facebook. Why didn’t and more importantly why Facebook has still not removed the page inciting hatred and anger amongst its Muslim users?

Thirdly, people in Pakistan [those who feel they have lost the world upon Facebook block], should thank God the government took the step. Trust me, if they hadn’t, it would have given the extremists one more reason to create violence against the nation. Come on folks, give yourself a break and stop bragging about Freedom of Choice and Speech, even you dictate certain terms to people around you and the term dictated by the Authorities in Pakistan, was a wise one.

I would however also like to state here that the decision is solely a political one, which has been blanketed by Religion. So kindly give it a break and take a vacation from Facebook, trust me it wont kill you.

My apology if the post sounds offensive to anyone.