Facebook Bows to Threats and Bans “Anti-Islamic” Pages in Turkey

Rather than be subject to being blocked entirely in Turkey, Facebook has agreed to block “anti-Islamic” content within the country after a Turkish court order. Gölbaşı Criminal Court of Peace in Ankara issued the order on Sunday, threatening to block Facebook outright if the social media site did not comply, as it has done previously with YouTube and Twitter.

Ironically, Ahmet Davutoğlu, the Prime Minister of Turkey, was present at the recent demonstrations in Paris supporting freedom of speech following the Charlie Hebdo shootings earlier this month. Yet, Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet is facing legal action after reprinting Charlie Hebdo cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed.

Davutoğlu was recently quoted as saying that the freedom of expression that he supports “does not grant anybody the right to insult another’s beliefs,” and that “In this country, we don’t allow insults to the Prophet. This is a very clear, sharp and principled stance. Everybody should know this,” making his appearance in Paris seem rather confused.

Source: Ars Technica