Bangladesh Bans Facebook over Political Satire Images

Facebook is not having the best of days in the Islamic world. Just as a ban in Pakistan is being lifted, the site is getting banned in Bangladesh over pretty much the same subject, the depiction of the Muslim prophet Mohammed. In this case, caricatures of the country’s political figures also contributed to the ban. Officials said they would restore access once the offending images were removed.

Government officials in the country say that the majority of the Muslim population is being offended by the images of the Prophet, which is why the site is now being blocked. Any depiction of the Prophet Mohammed is prohibited under Muslim tradition. Of course, the site wasn’t blocked until satirical images of some of the country’s political leaders were found on Facebook.

While the Facebook page which offended the sensitivities of many Muslims and prompted Pakistan to block the site has been around for a few weeks, it wasn’t until now that Bangladesh took action. A man was arrested in the country as responsible for uploading the political images. Still, thousands of people protested in the country last week, asking for the site to be blocked.

The outcome will likely be the same as it has been in Pakistan. Facebook seems to have cooperated with officials and has blocked access to any blasphemous content from Pakistan. A very similar measure could be implemented for Bangladesh and other countries that may wish so. In the end, if the content is not removed globally, Facebook’s actions can be defended. But it’s hard to understand how blocking the content in the countries offended would ‘solve’ anything as the images will still be there.

Yet, it seems that not everyone in Bangladesh is in favor of the ban. In fact, students have rallied and protested against the ban, calling it an interference with their freedom of expression.