Pakistan has blocked two popular websites due to a controversial competition being held on Facebook on May 20. How has the ban on Facebook and YouTube affected you? Has the block on our accessibility to these sites highlighted the fact that how addicted and dependent we are on social networking websites and forums? How do you plan to pass your time instead now that browsing videos and random profiles is not an option?
The views expressed by the reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
Facebook and youtube are bare waste of time! Glad to hear that pakistan took this bold step, i believe all such useless time-wasting stuff should be banned. I bet this summer many of our youth will find time to study and play.
I am shocked to see how many people actually support the government’s acts of censorship!!! Don’t you people realize that it is your inalienable right to express your opinion??? There is no freedom of expression if you do not have the freedom to offend!! There is ALWAYS someone who is or might be offended by your opinion. The educated, open-minded and adult way to deal with it is to live with this fact – NOT to censor dissenting opinions!!!
I am not a member of FaceBook and almost never use Youtube, but I insist on my right to use these websites!! And banning Wikipedia is just an act of banning the right to general knowledge! Pakistan is supposedly a democracy – but where are we heading to??
Any kind of censorship, specially one that aims at cutting off citizens from the rest of the world and any kinds of opinions that do not fit into the ideologies of some blind, limited and narrow-minded people in order to prevent Pakistanis from forming their own opinions, should be resisted!!!
Think about it, we are all enjoying our right to express our opinion and inform ourselves about world news or whatever right now – or when ever we visit the Dawn web-page or forum! Do you really want this fundamental right to be taken from you? If we don’t like to look at caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad, then we should simply avoid them – it’s as easy as that! If you don’t like the message of a novel or a movie – don’t read it – don’t watch it. But please don’t ban it: Leave it to me to decide for myself. Don’t decide for me.
I am proud of being Pakistani, as Pakistan has taken some actions on this issue. pakistan should raise this incident in the United nations. Muslim fronts OIC , arab league and all the muslim countries should unite and come forward to tackle this issue with more intensity. Such incidents are intolerable, as one can feel being a muslim.
I don’t think banning a website is a rational action.
for the information of the few saudia and indonesia have banned facebook besides that i would like all to know what respect they hold for u is that the page was never banned and 6000 images were uploaded most of them so disturbing that even the moderatest of muslim or rather weak muslim would be angered saddened and feel hopeless
and there was a big issue of privacy going on in facebook and 60% of the worldwide users had said they were deleting their accounts so facebook has quickly that is in a few hours changed its privacypolicy but it did not ban that page on the demonstrations of hundreds and thousands of muslims
http://www.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=103601&Itemid=1
Banning facebook, what a joke… It’s a free world therefore people are entitled to their own views ,opinions etc…
The best way to approach these issues is to have dialogue with those on an intellectual level and let them know your point of view about respecting all the prophets of God. Looking into Quran and Sunnah of our Prophet I do not see this as blasphemy, it is the ignorance of the other person, if we try to approach them on a different level instead of demanding death for them I am sure they will understand our point of view. I do Dawah work with non-Muslims and I give them Quran to read and have discussion with them about every aspect of our religion. May be others will not agree with me but you have to show your love and respect to them to get your point through. One example is when they say JESUS, I always say “Peace be upon Him” in return they respect the Last Prophet for all humanity MOHAMMAD.
Why is this ban in Pakistan only? There are many other nations and they have not spoken about this issue. Where does rest of the Muslim world stands on this issue? What impact does it has on the knowledge base for Pakistani individuals.
It is puerile, silly and regressive to ban mediums of communication if you dislike the views of some users.
They might also consider banning the internet and perhaps the concept of electronic communication, perhaps electricity should be next?
Much to the controversies highlighted on facebook, i believe the government has shown its concerns and has taken the right decision at the right time. The impact? here is my analysis:
1. Your question of how would the youth now pass their time knowing that the two sites we relied on are banned was no doubt the very same question that occurred to everyone of us. But then again, facebook and youtube? is that all thats left for the internet users to use? No is the answer. From my peers and my own self i`ve learned that we have actually utilized our time in things which mean a lil more important than just commenting, sharing and youtubing. most have diverted their attentions to their ongoing exams while others have focused their time on researches and other helpful and rather useful ways of using the internet. As for me, this window of opportunity, as i see it, has paved way for more success in both my personal and practical life.
2. Sure there were cries of distress amongst the mass but then again it eventually faded away and so far everyone seems to have coped up. But here`s the twist. This ban has paved way to our pakistani talents of IT and website designing to actually find a way to create some social site of our own. i have seen ads of so many other sites and i have joined a few myself. Facebook was more like a Monopoly, first taking down orkut and hi5 and then storming at the top like a shark ready to eat anything or everything that comes its way. I strongly Urge the youth of Pakistan to actually use this time to find better ways to interact. This is more like a test than just any ban. They first enslaved us by introducing youtube and facebook and then they pushed us to our limits thinking we wouldnt retaliate? Think Again! WELL DONE AND HATS OFF TO THE GOVT. OF PAKISTAN!
I am not a muslim , so I don’t know how they feel about FB and utube videos and photos. However I see lot of videos making fun of Christian saints and other figures including Jesus. Why Christians can tolerate it but not Muslims!!!
If we are really pissed at facebook and youtube, then we should protest in a way that is costly to them not to ourselves…. yeah they will have less ad revenue but they can do without it easier than we can do without facebook etc…
Sir, Can anyone tell me what Pakistan or Pakistanis have achieved by banning the FB and YT? The answere is nothing. Are Pakistanis the only Muslims in the world that they should become so emotional as to start public protests? There are more than 50 other muslim countries and none (as far as I know) has taken any action. It appears that Pakistani lot are more emotional than tolerant muslims. Retaliation always makes things worse rather than better.
I think we can be more productive without facebook. Everyone get to work!
Well,
In my opinion, PTA should have taken an action against “draw Muhammad day” PAGE only and should have banned it as only the page contained blasphemous material about or Holy prophet(PBUH) rather than blocking the whole website (Facebook).
As far as you tube is concerned, same should have been done. Certain videos which contained that sort of material should have been deleted or made inaccessible by the people.
Banning of the websites meant that if they would have not been banned, Muslims would have viewed them, which is not at all true. It would have been more appropriate if the Muslims themselves took it seriously and wouldn’t have accessed their Facebook accounts which would have resulted in a huge loss.
But, hats-off to the young supporters of the protest and the boycott who took the website “drawmuhammadday.com” down by attacking the websites bandwidth.
The government of Pakistan recently banned fb and youtube because of the dis respectfulness displayed towards our religion. In the past, Denmark has done that and we all did protested at that time too. The authorities were aware of the offensive action but they didn’t do anything. Our Youth should not protest about their social life and entertainment. Religion is something above that and we should respect that.
Youtube and facebook should be banned forever.
I do understand that some attempts in the west to show images deeply insulting to Muslims, and should not be done in name of decency and respect for other religions, but what exactly is the difference with what has been done in the past as expression of art and what is happening now.
I am a Muslim. I like facebook minus one obnoxious page.
“freedom of speech” does not mean you malign others point of view or faith. These so called liberals are crossing every limit which is nodoubt hurting conservatives sentiments. I ask these liberals what would they react if any one malign there faith , whatsover they have…
it laments me when ppl didnt respect others faith…
Why can’t you sacrifice Facebook for Hurmat-e-Islam???
I am Hindu and do not believe in GOD and religon boundries but definitely respect others sentiments. I also believe in right of freedom of everyone. I cannot agree any third person/ agency/ government to decide what people should see and what not. It just doesn’t make sense. Everyone is sensible enough to decide what’s good for him/ her and what not.
By creating such ban, unnecessary publicity is given to those who created such pages. Best reaction would have been not to react to it at all. I am sure now more people will visit such pages and more people will create such pages for different religions just because it gives them free publicity. No?
Banning that link on facebook would have been appropriate but banning of youtube and wikipedia, thats utterly senseless.
i dont get it…..what is the point of banning the site? y cant we use the same platform to spread a positive message and potray our religion as a truly positive and universal one? did the ban make the haters think any differently? did it stop them from drawing hideous images which only show their sick and perverted mentality. Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H) will be our dignified and beloved Prophet no matter what anybody says. giving them a reaction only proves that they intimidate and affect us by their actions. please dont forget that when the Prophet announced his prophethood, he was harassed and jeered at the same way as today. only the tools have changed. but did he ever make a scene? did he ever react negatively? he had all the authority, if he would have wanted Allah would have destroyed his enemies in less than a second, but he didnt pray for their destruction, nor did he answer them with hate. he was always tolerant and nice. if we call ourselves his followers we should follow his example and act in an educated manner to show what our religion and Prophet have taught us.
Very good blocking of face book and utube. As we have achieved the benefit from face book. so its enough for us. Now we shouldn’t waste our time anymore. Invest your time towards your success way.
Sweden’s major brands are: Ericsson, Volvo, Saab and Ikea. Lets boycott these products to begin with. Tuti fruite Frazer candies are Swedish. Hafi Jams are also Swedish.
for starters lets do this. and i hope that Pakistanis will blog more and before writing they will do research over the net and make sure they write the right things. ofcourse mistakes can happen, but only after due deligence is done before writing anything and pasting it on the blog.
Pakistan zindabad