Pakistan Amongst the Highest Ranking Countries Where Facebook Restricts Content

Facebook is the biggest internet sensation across the globe since 2004, it is easily accessible and user friendly which often leads to the users violating the local laws and community guidelines.

In a recent research, it was discovered that Pakistan stands second on the list of countries where maximum content is restricted by the authorities.

PM’s focal person claims, on the back of hate speech, over 35,000 posts were suspended by the social networking site in the last six months.

Facebook reported that the content which was curbed was solely, because it violated the local laws; anti judiciary content, speaking against the independence of motherland and forbidding profanity. A total of 6,377 items were curbed in Pakistan in 2018, as compared to the 31 items previously restricted in 2016.

Due to the cooperation between the government of Pakistan and the Facebook authorities, 60% of the content was restricted during the half of 2018. It mostly revolved around hate campaigns lead by political and religious factions. Pakistan Telecom Authorities (PTA) too reported fake accounts.

“The safety of our community in Pakistan is absolutely vital to us,” a Facebook spokesperson told Dawn.

Facebook also took actions against terrorist propagandas, drug trafficking, illegal arms and ammunitions, racism, sexual content and spam.