Turkish Facebook users who try to “poke” fun of Muhammad will be blocked, a company employee told The New York Times. The policy was also reported by a state broadcaster.
The ban on insulting the Muslim prophet came as a result of an order from a Turkish court issued Sunday.
The court order was issued just weeks after Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu went to Paris to take part in its free speech march in support of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, The New York Times reported Tuesday. A terrorist attack on the Paris newspaper, which often criticizes Islam, killed 12 people, including its editor.
“In comparison with Twitter and YouTube, Facebook cooperates with the Turkish authorities much better,” said Yaman Akdeniz, a cyberlaw professor at Bilgi University in Istanbul, The New York Times reported. “Therefore, it’s not surprising that Facebook removed these pages right away.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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