FACEBOOK ORDERED TO BLOCK PAGES INSULTING MOHAMMAD (PBUH) : REPORTS

Ankara, 9 Rabi’ul Akhir 1436/30 January 2015 (MINA) – A Turkish court has ordered Facebook to block a number of pages deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammad PBUH, threatening to stop access to the whole social networking site if it does not comply, local media reported.

The order made by the court  followed a request by a prosecutor, state broadcaster TRT reported. No one from Facebook was immediately available for comment, Huffington Post quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

It was the latest move to crack down on material seen as offending religious sensibilities in the largely Muslim nation, sparked international supports.

Earlier this month, prosecutors launched an inquiry into a newspaper which reprinted parts of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in the wake of an attack by militants on its offices in Paris.

On January 7, two gunmen killed 12 people and injured several others when they attacked the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo.

Two brothers, Said and Cherif Kouachi, suspected of murdering the journalists, were killed after being cornered at a printing workshop, two days after the attack.

Following the incident, hundreds of Muslims rallied  across the world to protest against negative media coverage of Islam and French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s depictions of Prophet Mohamed PBUH and by linking to the attackers as Muslim image.

Only two weeks after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg released a strongly worded #JeSuisCharlie statement, Facebook has agreed to censor images of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH in Turkey — including the very type of image that precipitated the Charlie Hebdo attack.(T/R04/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)