Lahore High Court has been asked to ban the social networking website Facebook in a petition filed by lawyer Azhar Siddique.
Earlier this year, the Lahore High Court was asked to ban the social networking website Facebook in a petition filed by lawyer Azhar Siddique.
Last year, the Lahore High Court had briefly banned the social networking website Facebook, while hearing a petition filed by lawyer Azhar Siddique.
“What is it with the Lahore High Court, Azhar Siddique and Facebook?” internet enthusiasts are wondering.
“It is like when you poke someone on Facebook,” according to an expert. “The only possible consequence of a poke is another poke, and that leads to an endless cycle of pokes at the end of which the parties involved are more stupid than they were when the process was initiated.”
“The judiciary is the most appropriate institution to ask for a ban on Facebook,” a litigant in the court premises told this scribe. “It is the only institution that provides alternative ways to waste people’s time.” He asked not to be named citing financial reasons. “If the lawyers beat me up, will your father pay my medical bills?” he asked this scribe.
The civil society expressed concerns about the development, calling on the government to ensure freedom of speech. “In the absence of Facebook walls, people can express their valuable opinions on bathroom walls,” an activist said. “But there will not be enough space to put up pictures of cats.”
He denied it will be easier to overthrow the government without social media, as secret protests will not be organised on open social networking websites.
Facebook is said to 45 million users in Pakistan. In terms of the number of users, it is only second to charas. Most of the users of the website are not likely to hit the like button on a ban.
“Facebook is a conspiracy against Islam and Pakistan and such heinous attempts should not be tolerated in this country,” one user of the website said, “but I really need to harvest my potatoes.”
Economists believe that a ban on Facebook is likely to result in a 100 percent increase in the productivity of office workers and help Pakistan get out of the crippling financial crisis. But doctors believe such a ban will also result in a 100 percent increase in Pakistan’s population, thus putting the country back into the crippling financial crisis.
In order to address that concern, lawyer Azhar Siddique had founded a website called Millat Facebook before he filed his first petition. “Do not indulge in any actions you would not do in front of your family,” the website tells its users without specifying too much.
Critics of Azhar Siddique have pointed out the fact that the lawyer and entrepreneur himself has a Facebook account with 1,863 friends. The information was verified on Facebook, where it was also revealed that this scribe and Mr Siddique both like Lady Gaga.
Another supporter of a ban on Facebook denied that he had a profile on Facebook. But other users reported that profiles of a number of teenaged girls had not been updated since the day of the petition.
The author is a media critic and the News Editor, The Friday Times
