Social network site Facebook may block one of its pages to users in Pakistan that encourages the drawing of the Prophet Mohammed. Facebook released a statement saying: "We are very disappointed with the Pakistani courts' decision to block Facebook without warning, and suspect our users there feel the same way."
The statement from the California-based social network company continued: "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."
"While some kinds of comments and content may be upsetting for someone criticism of a certain culture, country, religion, lifestyle, or political ideology, for example that alone is not a reason to remove the discussion," it said.
"We strongly believe that Facebook users have the freedom to express their opinions, and we don't typically take down content, groups or pages that speak out against countries, religions, political entities, or ideas." Thousands of members of the social networking site have launched an online campaign demanding a boycott of Facebook over the offending page.
Pakistan blocked access to Facebook on a court order on Wednesday 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.
The site caused furious reaction and street protests in Pakistan. Justice Ejaz Chaudhry from the Lahore High Court ordered the blocking of the Facebook site. The court is to start a detailed hearing of the case on May 31.
Lawyer Rai Bashir explained the reasoning behind the ban: "We moved the petition in the wake of widespread resentment in the Muslim community against the Facebook contest."
The depiction of any prophet is strictly prohibited in Islam as blasphemous and Muslims across the world staged angry protests over the publication of satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2006.
The controversial site was reportedly set up as a freedom of speech response to the threats against the creators of the anarchic TV show South Park who were threatened by Islamist activists for depicting the Prophet Mohammed in a bear suit in a recent episode.
Since then hundreds of sites have appeared online, both in support and against the controversial Draw The Prophet competition. A posting on the website of the US-based group Revolution Muslim threatened creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker saying they would "probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh". The reference was to the Dutch film-maker who was shot and stabbed to death in 2004 by an Islamist angered by his film about Muslim women.
The Facebook ban comes after a Swedish artist, Lars Vilks, had his house firebombed last week for drawing the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog.
