Web 2.0 Talibanization: Pakistan banning everything

The saga of banning and then subsequent un-banning or partially removing
the ban is a phenomenon particularly popular with the Pakistani psyche. Even
this year saw the Pakistani Cricket Board banning several senior players
(including a few life bans) over serious charges of creating disharmony within
the team; but within few months most of them are back again amongst the
probables for the next tournament. The trend of banning (and un-banning) now
seems to have moved from cricket to the Internetin a matter of three days, the
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has banned Facebook, YouTube and
Twitter (though the ban on YouTube has been partially lifted at the time of
going to press).

The move against Facebook followed an outcry over a page set up by a Facebook
user inviting people to draw caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. The Pakistani
Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on May 19, 2010 blocked Facebook following the
Lahore High Court (LHC) order to ban the website temporarily till May 31, 2010.
This was in response to a private petition seeking the courts intervention. The
very next day, YouTube, owned by Google, was also blocked due to what the
regulatory authority said were links from Facebook to inflammatory videos on the
video-sharing site. The bans were apparently extended to block Wikipedia as
well. And one day after, the Pakistani authorities further widened the crackdown
by restricting access to microblogging sensation, Twitter, citing that it
contains blasphemous contents.

The Facebook page (controversial "Everybody draw Mohammed Day!" page) in
question began as a gesture of support for the animated show, South Park, which
stopped a cartoon of Mohammed from airing after death threats were made. Many
would argue that creation of such a page was a churlish act, and one which was
bound to incite and ignite passions and even hurt religious sensitivities of a
large section of the population. As expected, the protests were widespreadover
two dozen Pakistani religious groups working under the umbrella of the JuD urged
the UN to enact a global law "against blasphemy of prophets and awarding death
penalty to violators". The decision to contact the UN and envoys from Muslims
and non-Muslim states was made at a meeting of clerics belonging to the JuD,
Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan, Tanzeem-e-Islami, Markaz-e-Ahlesunnat,
Muslim Conference, Jamat-e-Ahlehadis, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Pakistan Ulema
Council and International Katham-e-Nabuwat.

While the indignation might be justified, what can never be advocated was the
blanket ban on Facebook and subsequently all the popular Internet sites being
used, ironically, by a large section of the Pakistani population. In fact,
Pakistan should have taken a leaf out of Indias book (though that usually does
not happen)Facebook had blocked the controversial page in India. "Out of
respect for the local regulations, standards and customs, we have decided to
restrict access to the Everyone Draw Mohammed! page from India, after being
contacted by authorities and reviewing the matter closely," says a Facebook
spokesperson.

Though some unconfirmed reports claimed that about 70% people in Pakistan
want a permanent ban on the social networking website, while another 15% support
the Lahore High Courts order to ban the website till May 31, 2010, the fact of
the matter is these blanket bans of so many popular sites had created quite a
consternation amongst many of the hoi polloi in Pakistan. "It is a childish and
immature reaction, and has grave consequences which were not considered because
those protesting against Facebook and blocking Twitter have no knowledge of how
these sites were being used for good," PTI report quoted a high school teacher
in Karachi as saying. "I was counselling my students and guiding them in their
ongoing studies through Facebook. I had ex-students in touch with me for
guidance regarding their future academic decisions. Who will guide them now?"

Another online activist said that the blockage of Twitter was an act of
censorship and a violation of basic rights. "Twitter doesnt even contain images
so how can it be a part of the blasphemous cartoons episode?" he asked. "They
may as well ban the whole Internet because immature reactions like this will
only act as a catalyst for further reactionary offensive acts against Muslims
online. The original offending Facebook page has swelled to close to 100,000
followers because of Pakistans protest."

And it was not as if Facebook was not willing to comply like they have done
in India. Facebook indicated that it might be compelled to co-operate, blocking
the offensive pages in order to keep its service available. "We are very
disappointed with the Pakistani courts decision to block Facebook without
warning, and suspect our users there feel the same way," the company said. "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." Such co-operation is the usual route for companies such as YouTube
(Google) and Facebook, which can stop access from certain geographies.

In fact, YouTube is completely banned in just a few places, notably China and
Turkey. This sort of Talibanization of the Internet not just reinforces the
stereotype of Pakistan as a fundamental, obscurantist Islamic state in the
Western mindset, it seriously hampers the growth of Pakistan as a modern society
of the twenty-first century. The embarrassing irony of the situation was that
Pakistans Interior Minister Rehman Malik joined Twitter because of the ban on
Facebook, showing how dependent the leaders and people of that country have
become on online social media. To save some face, PTA has issued an order to
restore access to YouTube. However, several hundred pages on the video sharing
website will remain blocked because of "blasphemous" contentauthorities have
issued a list of 200 URLs, which they say, should be kept blocked while the
whole site needs to remain open.

Even if the cricket banning farce is repeated on the net, the whole episode
dispels any doubt about how far the Pakistan polity is still from accepting
modernity.

Rajneesh De

rajneeshd@cybermedia.co.in