(CNN) -- Pakistan is
blocking access to Facebook in response to an online group calling on people to
draw the Prophet Mohammed, officials said Wednesday.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority issued the
order a day before "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day," scheduled by a
Facebook group with the same name.
"Obviously (the blocking of Facebook) is related
to the objectionable material that was placed on Facebook. That is why it is
blocked," said Khoram Ali Mehran of the telecommunication authority.
"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 organization has not received any complaints from
internet users about the Facebook group, 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 the Facebook group, 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 said.
The idea of "Draw Mohammad 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
Mohammad," 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 dont 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."
Facebook is investigating the block, said Debbie
Frost, the company's director of global communications.
Sulpovar's group and a similar one had attracted about
7,000 fans between them Wednesday. Groups opposing the idea had about 68,000.
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