by RAJA FAISAL
ISLAMABAD: On the day to mark the first death anniversary of Kashmiri rebel Burhan Wani, Facebook blocked thousands of accounts of Pakistani users.
The step was taken against users who tried to change their display picture to that of Burhan Wani to show solidarity with the ongoing freedom struggle in Indian Occupied Kashmir, sources in the cyber monitoring told Pakistan Today.
“As soon as I changed my display picture to that of Burhan Wani to show solidarity to his mission, Facebook blocked my account”, Sudheer Choudhry, a Lahore based journalist, informed Pakistan Today.
The first anniversary of Burhan Wani’s valorous martyrdom is being celebrated not only in Kashmir and Pakistan. Kashmiris settled throughout the world mark the day as a day of resistance against the tyranny of India.
This is not the first time that Facebook has taken such steps in Pakistan. Recently, on many occasions, Facebook carried out similar discrimination against Pakistan, said rights activist Farrukh Abbas.
Pakistan does face several issues with Facebook. Pakistan’s Interior minister, only yesterday, met with vice president of Facebook’s public policy, to discuss the matter of blocking accounts containing blasphemous content. Facebook maintained that the company gives right to freedom of speech at large. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar reasoned that such freedom can hurt the feelings of many in Pakistani society.
More importantly, Facebook accounts are being regionally administered at Facebook’s regional office at Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. Regarding Burhan Wani, Facebook agrees with Indian branding of Wani as a terrorist.
Facebook maintains a strict policy against terrorists and terror organisations.
