Facebook Must Not Accept One Of Its Users To Be Murdered For Blasphemy In Pakistan

      According to Reuters, the VP of Public Policy for Facebook met with Pakistani officials "to discuss the company's efforts to prevent blasphemous content after a 30 year old Pakistani man was sentenced to death by a counter-terrorism court* for posts he made on the site".

      Blasphemy charges have been used to punish political opponents, to punish non Muslims, to punish dissidents, to seek revenge, to obtain the lands and property of neighbors, and to commit murder. Recently a man was murdered after being accused of blasphemy by a mob in Pakistan. It was later determined that the man had not commited blasphemy, and was in fact a religious Muslim. 

      Should a man be murdered by the Pakistani government for posting content the Pakistani government and religious authorities do not like? Is that a crime worthy of death? Is Islam such a fragile religion that it cannot withstand any criticism? 

      Killing a man because of what he writes, or what he thinks, or what he speaks, is not the way to protect a religion. In fact, it invites criticism of the religion. It invites criticism of the religious authorities, the government, and the people and mobs that blindly kill out of religious passion. 

      Facebook must take a stand. It must do everything it can to protect the life of one of its users. This means it cannot be business as usual. Facebook should delay its plans to set up an office in Pakistan. Facebook should make it clear that murdering the man for what he wrote and posted on their platform is a crime far worse than anything blasphemy can ever be, and that if Pakistan murders the man, Facebook Corp. will not allow Facebook to be used in Pakistan.

           *( How sad that a counter-terrorism court does not address real terrorism.)