Facebook has blocked over 2,203 posts or videos in Pakistan for allegedly violating local laws, which is the highest number of content restrictions for any country within the first six months of the year.
In its latest Transparency report released on Friday, the social networking giant said it restricted access to 15,337 items from January to June 2018, 14 per cent of which came from Pakistan.
“We restricted access in Pakistan to items reported by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) as allegedly violating local laws prohibiting blasphemy, harassment, anti-judiciary content and condemnation of the country’s independence,” it said.
This was the first time Facebook said it restricted access to items allegedly violating Pakistani laws prohibiting anti-judiciary content.
“We also restricted access to 87 items in response to reports related to defamation,” it added.
Facebook did not break down the number of requests for each type of content restriction or give details of individual items blocked.
“When we restrict content based on local law, we do so only in the country or region where it is alleged to be illegal. We report the number of pieces of content restricted in each country or region where our products are available.”