Facebook disappoints for being blocked in Pakistan

 WASHINGTON: Facebook is disappointed at being blocked in Pakistan over a contest that encourages users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed and may make the offending page inaccessible to users there, the social network said late Wednesday.

"We are very disappointed with the Pakistani courts' decision to block Facebook without warning, and suspect our users there feel the same way," Facebook said in a statement to French news agency.

"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," it said.

Pakistan blocked access to Facebook on a court order over a competition created by a Facebook user who set up a page called "Draw Mohammed Day," inviting people to send in caricatures of the Muslim prophet on May 20.

Islam strictly prohibits depictions of Prophet Mohammed as blasphemous and Muslims around the world staged angry protests over the publication of satirical cartoons of the prophet in European newspapers in 2006.

The statement from the Palo Alto, California-based social network said "we want Facebook to be a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views, while respecting the rights and feelings of others.

Pakistan blocks YouTube over blasphemous material

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has blocked the popular video sharing website YouTube in a bid to contain blasphemous material, officials said on Thursday.

The blockade came hours after the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) directed Internet service providers to stop access to social network Facebook indefinitely on Wednesday because of an online competition to draw the Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) in gross violation of fundamental human rights pertaining to one’s religion.

Wahaj-us-Siraj, the CEO of Nayatel, an Internet service provider, said PTA issued an order late on Wednesday seeking an "immediate" blockade of YouTube.

"It was a serious instruction as they wanted us to do it quickly and let them know after that," he said while talking to a UK-based news agency.

YouTube was also blocked in the Muslim country in 2007 for about a year for what it called un-Islamic videos.

A PTA official, who declined to be identified, said the action was taken after the authority determined that some sacrilegious caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad were transferred from Facebook to YouTube.

Representation of any prophet is deemed un-Islamic and blasphemous in Islam, let alone the caricature or cartoon of these divine personages.

Siraj said the blocking of the two websites would cut up to 25 percent of total Internet traffic in Pakistan.

"It'll have an impact on the overall Internet traffic as they eat up 20 to 25 percent of the country's total 65 giga-bytes traffic," he said.

Publications of similar cartoons in Danish newspapers in 2005 sparked deadly protests in Muslim countries. Around 50 people were killed during violent protests in Muslim countries in 2006 over the cartoons, five of them in Pakistan.

Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on Denmark's embassy in Islamabad in 2008, killing six people, saying it was in revenge for publication of the caricatures.

Google apologizes for results of 'Michelle Obama' image search

Google apologizes for results of 'Michelle Obama' image search
(CNN) -- For most of the past week, when someone typed "Michelle Obama" in the popular search engine Google, one of the first images that came up was a picture of the American first lady altered to resemble a monkey.
On Wednesday morning, the racially offensive image appeared to have been removed from any Google Image searches for "Michelle Obama."
Google officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Google faced a firestorm of criticism over the episode. First, it banned the Web site that posted the photo, saying it could spread a malware virus. Then, when the image appeared on another Web site, Google let the photo stand. When a Google image search brought up the photo, an apologetic Google ad occasionally appeared above it.
The ad redirected users to a statement from Google which read, "Sometimes Google search results from the Internet can include disturbing content, even from innocuous queries. We assure you that the views expressed by such sites are not in any way endorsed by Google."
The California-based company then explained that search results rely on computer algorithms that take into account thousands of factors.
"The beliefs and preferences of those who work at Google, as well as the opinions of the general public, do not determine or impact our search results," it said.
The company said that the integrity of its search results is extremely important.
"Accordingly, we do not remove a page from our search results simply because its content is unpopular or because we receive complaints concerning it."
A user alerted Google to the picture via an online help forum two weeks ago.
The altered image can be found here, although clicking on this link will take users to a photo that many will find offensive.
The Internet was abuzz Tuesday and Wednesday with reaction to the image. Some online users demanded that the photo be blocked, while others said it should remain on free speech grounds.
"There is no way to defend this heinous incident," said a Twitter user who gave her name as Alheli Picazo of Calgary, Canada. "People often claim their right to free speech to mask blatant racism and insulting bigotry and always seem to get away with it," she told CNN via e-mail. "When it comes to issues of discrimination, hiding behind free speech just doesn't cut it."
A Twitter user who gave his name as Jerry Wright of Hoboken, New Jersey, disagreed.
"I am absolutely disgusted by this picture, but the Internet has thousands and thousands of offensive images. Should Google get rid of all of them? Where do you draw the line," he asked CNN via e-mail.
In 2004, Google posted a similar note of apology when a search for "Jew" pulled up anti-Semitic sites as top results.
Among the factors that Google uses to rank its results is how many sites link to an image or a Web page. Users have sometimes artificially inflated a search ranking through coordinated efforts, known as "Google bombing."
With Google letting the Obama image stand, a Twitter user who identified herself as Jill Harper of Indianapolis, Indiana, suggested a different tack: Point out the person who posted the photo.

"Instead of Google deleting the photo, there should be a campaign against the person who posted the photo," she said by e-mail. "Make a publicized attack noting the outrage of displaying such an offensive photo. This way, the person who posted it would feel the public outcry to pull the photo."