Turkey threatens to block Facebook in the country

Turkey has asked Facebook to block the several pages on the social media site supposed containing blasphemous material regarding Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Turkey has also threatened to block the social networking site completely in the country if the order shall not be complied as a Turkish court ordered Facebook to bring down the offending pages relating the illicit material. The order given by the court on Sunday followed a request by a prosecutor. Still there has no word been given by the Facebook in this matter. After the attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo, a layer of frustration can be seen both in East and West. As Charlie Hebdo again comes up with the blasphemous cartoons, there exist a sufficient anger in Muslim world. Not to mention, Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister of the Turkey, often seems to endorse the Islamic values openly. On the other hand, to be the part of European Union is also one of the core agenda of Turkish establishment. Last year Turkey blocked the access of Twitter after users posted tweets linking the prime minister to be involved in a corruption scandal. But the interesting thing here is that the CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this month that the company would make Facebook a platform where anyone can share thoughts. He shared the status after the attack on Charlie Hebdo attack and added that company would not sensor any material related to this. Pakistan blocked the social networking site Facebook in 2010 after a drawing competition that encouraged the users to submit cartoons of Prophet when Facebook refused to ban those pages. Later, Pakistan had to re-open the Facebook. On one hand Facebook Community Standards say, “Facebook does not permit hate speech, but distinguishes between serious and humorous speech. While we encourage you to challenge ideas, institutions, events, and practices, we do not permit individuals or groups to attack others based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability or medical condition.” While on the other hand Mark Zuckerberg says, “Facebook has always been a place where people across the world share their views and ideas. We follow the laws in each country, but we never let one country or group of people dictate what people can share across the world. I,m committed to building a service where you can speak freely without fear of violence.” It would be interesting to see what Facebook will do in the midst of increasing pressure regarding freedom of expression. A new policy from the company can be a good idea in this matter. A few days ago, Facebook had to restore account of Pakistani celebrity Hamza Ali Abbasi for posting a status allegedly filled with hate speech. Facebook also apologized from Hamza for deleting his account, read full story here.