Facebook to send delegation for investigating blasphemous content: Interior ministry

Popular social networking website Facebook will send a delegation to Pakistan for investigating content which the government considers to be blasphemous, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Interior said.

The government had approached Facebook earlier this week regarding access to the records of three controversial pages accused of spreading blasphemous content, the director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Mazhar Kakakhail had said.

Facebook in its reply said it is aware of the government’s reservations and that it wants to resolve the issue via bilateral dialogue and mutual understanding, the interior ministry spokesperson added.

The official further said that Facebook has also named a focal person to communicate with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

The IHC is hearing a case pertaining to the dissemination of blasphemous content through social media.

The case, filed by Salman Shahid, argues that the presence of blasphemous content on social media websites is “hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims”.

The petition also alleged that pages and videos defaming the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him) and revered personalities had not been blocked by the respondents nor had any steps been taken to remove the content.

Three of the ‘blasphemous’ pages had already been blocked, whereas five to six other pages carrying blasphemous content had been marked, the FIA DG had told the court in a hearing on Monday.

Kakakhail had further said that an application will be launched under international law if the Facebook management failed to comply with the Pakistani government’s request.

“We are at an early stage of inquiry in this regard,” he added.

Source: Dawn