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Facebook Shuts Down Prophet Page
Putri Prameshwari & Mark Moloney | May 21, 2010

Pakistani women affiliated with a local religious party rally against the Facebook page "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!" in Karachi, Pakistan on Wednesday, May 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil) Pakistani women affiliated with a local religious party rally against the Facebook page "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!" in Karachi, Pakistan on Wednesday, May 19, 2010. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)
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lakeinborn
5:59am May 22, 2010

So much for freedom of the press and democracy. If it doesn't go their way then suppress others freedom to speak. I might not agree with the actions of the people on Facebook but they have every right to express their opinion.


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After raising the ire of thousands of Muslims and narrowly avoiding a fatwa, Facebook on Friday took down a page titled “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.”

The removal of the page sparked cries of censorship, but Facebook called it “a small technical issue,” adding it believed Facebook was a place “where people can openly discuss issues and express their views, while respecting the rights and feelings of others.”

Rohadi Abdul Fatah, director of Islam and Shariah law at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, said he welcomed the decision to shut down the page. “The question now is what was behind the contest?” he said.

Freedom of expression should not be pushed to the extent that it “hurts Islam,” Rohadi added.

Depictions of Muhammad are forbidden in Islam, and the page, which encouraged people to send in drawings of the Prophet, angered Muslims around the world.

Although it had gained more than 80,000 followers, the page disappeared from Facebook on Thursday only to reappear later in the day. A search for it on Friday afternoon redirected users back to their own Facebook pages and the only results yielded by typing in the search term were opposing pages.

One of the main Facebook pages opposing the page, titled “Against ‘Everybody Draw Mohammed Day,’” posted a congratulatory status update and called on its 120,000 supporters to continue similar action against other pages mocking the Prophet.

Facebook access was blocked without warning in Pakistan in reaction to the page. “We are very disappointed with the Pakistani Courts’ decision to block Facebook without warning, and suspect our users there feel the same way,” a Facebook statement read.

“We are analyzing the situation and the legal considerations, and will take appropriate action, which may include making this content inaccessible to users in Pakistan.”