(CNN) -- Pakistan on Thursday blocked access to YouTube -- a day
after it shut down the social networking site Facebook -- in response to an
online group calling on people to draw the Prophet Mohammed.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority ordered operators to shut
down YouTube "in view of growing sacrilegious contents on it,"
officials said in a statement.
PTA said Thursday it reached its decision after all "possible
avenues were used within its jurisdiction, including using regular channels
available on the Facebook and YouTube to launch protest, to avoid appearances
of derogatory material available on their websites."
Facebook was blocked a day before "Everybody Draw Mohammed
Day," which was scheduled by several Facebook groups dedicated to the
idea.
The largest of the groups was unavailable for several hours
Wednesday and Thursday.
Facebook said "a small technical issue prevented some users
from accessing this page and others for a very short period of time," and
that Facebook had corrected the problem as quickly as possible once they became
aware of it.
"While it may be considered objectionable to some, the
Facebook Pages and Groups in question do not violate our policies,"
Facebook global communications director Debbie Frost said.
The page was online as of Thursday morning Eastern time.
Frost said Facebook was "very disappointed" to be
blocked in Pakistan.
"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," she said.
Khoram Ali Mehran of Pakistan's telecommunication authority said
the block "is related to the objectionable material that was placed on
Facebook."
"We have blocked it for an indefinite amount of time. We are
just following the government's instructions and the ruling of the Lahore High
Court. If the government decides to unblock it, then that's what we will
do," he said.
The telecommunication authority has not received any complaints
from Internet users about the blocking of Facebook, he said.
Devout Muslims consider it offensive to depict Mohammed.
There were riots around the world in response to a series of
cartoons of Mohammed in a Danish newspaper in 2005, and at least two European
cartoonists live under police protection after publication of their drawings of
the Muslim prophet.
Mimi Sulpovar, who started one of the Facebook groups, said she
read about the idea on a blog after Comedy Central bleeped out part of an
episode of "South Park" that mentioned the prophet.
"This is meant to be in protest," she said.
"This is something I have felt strongly about for a long
time: Bullying by certain Muslim groups will not be tolerated in a free
country," said Sulpovar, who is American.
But Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, said the idea behind the group was offensive.
"Islam discourages any visual representations of the prophets
of God -- Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, anybody -- because we believe it can lead to
a form of idol worship," he said.
"The majority of Muslims worldwide object to any
representation of a prophet of God," he added.
The idea of "Draw Mohammed Day" originated with a
cartoonist who has since distanced herself from the idea, Sulpovar and Hooper
said.
"The whole campaign has been taken up by Muslim-bashers and
Islamophobes," Hooper said.
But Sulpovar denied being anti-Muslim.
"This extends beyond being able to draw Mohammed," she
said. "If it's offensive to you, that's fine, but I don't feel it's right
to impose your belief on others through intimidation.
"This is nothing to do with hate or bigotry," she said.
"Nobody is inciting violence or preaching open hatred towards
individuals."
Sulpovar said she is not a Muslim but added that she had received
"hundreds of e-mails from people trying to explain this to me."
One group member said she saw anger and fear on both sides of the
controversy but felt that free speech could not be compromised.
"This is a hot-topic debate, but so is abortion, illegal
immigrants, gay marriage and politics. If we allow even a small compromise for
one group, then the free speech on topics like abortion, illegal immigrants and
politics can also be censored based on accusations that they cause violence or
hate," Autumn Meadows said on CNN's iReport.
"Hate speech is wanting a group eradicated, physically harmed
or dead. I don't think drawing Mohammed falls under that category," she
said.
"Islam is not above criticism or cartoons. I believe in
equality, and censoring Mohammed while we can draw every other figure in the
world does not equal equality," she concluded.
Sulpovar said Pakistan's decision to block Facebook was
"ridiculous."
Sulpovar's group had attracted more than 9,000 fans as of Thursday
morning. The page which disappeared briefly had more than 80,000 fans.
Groups opposing the idea had about 68,000 fans as of Wednesday.
Facebook is investigating the block, said Frost, the
communications director.
"We want Facebook to be a place where people can openly
discuss issues and express their views, while respecting the rights and feelings
of others," she told CNN.
"We sometimes find people discussing and posting about topics
that others may find controversial, inaccurate, or offensive. When these
feelings, or any content reported to us becomes an attack on anyone, including
Muslim people, it will be removed and further action may be taken against the
person responsible," she said.
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