A Turkish court has ordered Facebook to censor pages insulting the Prophet Muhammad. This comes after the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris.
ABC reported:
Facebook has been ordered by a Turkish court to censor pages insulting the Prophet Muhammad or risk being blocked entirely in the country.
The state-run Anadolu Agency reported the ruling was handed down late Sunday by a court in Ankara. The order comes days after another court in the country banned sites showing the latest cover of satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, the news comes during the same month that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has spoken out against censorship.
Last year Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan vowed to eradicate Twitter in the country after government corruption was exposed online.
The Daily Mail reported:
According to statistics released by Facebook, the company removed 1,893 ‘pieces of content’ at the request of the Turkish government.
Earlier this month, Turkey began to press for new legislation which would allow ministers to temporarily ban websites, such as Facebook and force Twitter to block an anonymous whistleblower, as part of a new campaign by the president.The proposed law, debated by a parliamentary commission, would allow ministers to order access to be restricted to any website deemed to threaten lives, public order or people’s rights and freedoms by committing a crime.
The Telecommunications Directorate (TIB) would have to comply within four hours, and then apply for a court order for the ban to be extended beyond 24 hours.
It comes after last year, when Erdogan vowed to ‘eradicate’ Twitter after allegations of government corruption were published on the micro-blogging site.
