Prime Minister Imran Khan writes Facebook CEO, asks Ban on Islamophobic Content on Facebook

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has been asked by Prime Minister Imran Khan to ban Islamophobic content on Facebook, warning of growing Muslim radicalization due to bad content against Islam on social media, the government said on Sunday.

Imran Khan said in a letter, which the Government resources posted on Twitter, that “growing Islamophobia” encourages extremism and violence, particularly through means of social media platforms including Facebook, all over the world.

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Prime Minister Imran Khan writes to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Asks Ban on Islamophobic Content on Facebook

“I would ask you to place a similar ban on Islamophobia and hate against Islam on Facebook that you have put in place for the Holocaust,” Khan said.

This month, Facebook said its hate speech policy was revised to prohibit all Holocaust-denied or distorted posts. “One cannot send a message that while hate messages against some are unacceptable, these are acceptable against others,” Prime Minister Imran Khan said, adding that this was “reflective of prejudice and bias that will encourage further radicalization”.

In response to Khan’s appeal, a Facebook spokeswoman said that the company rejected all forms of hate and did not allow racial, ethnic, national, or religious attacks.

“We’ll remove this hate speech as soon as we become aware of it,” the spokeswoman said in an emailed statement, adding that the company had “more work to do”.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, in his letter, referred to the situation in France, where, he said, Islam was being associated with terrorism.

Earlier on Sunday, Khan said that French President Emmanuel Macron had “attacked Islam” by encouraging the display of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad.

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s comments came after Macron paid tribute to a French history teacher beheaded by an Islamist radical who wanted to avenge the use of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad in a class on freedom of expression.

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