Pakistan Restores Twitter After Block For Blasphemous Material

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(RFE/RL) — The Pakistani government has blocked the social networking website Twitter because of material considered offensive to Islam.

AP quoted the chairman of Pakistan’s telecommunications authority, Mohammad Yaseen, as saying the website was blocked on May 20 because Twitter refused to remove material related to a competition on Facebook to post images of Islam’s Prophet Mohammad.

The Pakistani government said later that it had subsequently restored Twitter access about eight hours after the initial block.

Yaseen said Facebook had agreed to address Pakistan’s concerns but officials had not been able to get Twitter to do the same.

Many Muslims regard visual depictions of the prophet, even seemingly flattering ones, as blasphemous.

A similar competition on Facebook in 2010 provoked Pakistan to block Facebook for around two weeks.

RFE RL

RFE/RL journalists report the news in 21 countries where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established.

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