Lahore high court lifts ban on Facebook

The Lahore high court on Monday directed the concerned authorities to lift the ban imposed on popular social networking site Facebook, nearly two weeks after it was blocked following widespread protests against the site for carrying blasphemous contents.

Reversing an earlier order, Judge Ejaz Chaudhry asked the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority to lift sanctions on the website, saying the court is against blocking any access to information.

"Restore Facebook. We don't want to block access to information," The News quoted Justice Chaudhry as saying.

He asked the government to develop a system to block access to 'blasphemous' contents on the internet, which he said was already in place in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates

"It is the government's job to take care of such things, which spark resentment among the people and bring them onto the streets. They should take steps to block any blasphemous content on the Internet," Justice Chaudhry said.

A contest 'Everyone Draw Mohammed Day', organised by a Facebook user, called on people to draw a caricature of Prophet Mohammed to promote 'freedom of expression'. It had sparked a major backlash in Pakistan, which witnessed massive protests across the country.