Okay, we all know a Facebook posts can get you fired. Also, a compromising Facebook post can earn you a divorce or break-up. But in Pakistan, it earned one man something far more serious. A Pakistan man gets death sentence over Facebook.
So 30-year-old?Taimoor Raza is guilty of blasphemy. He got into a religious debate on Facebook with someone. But that someone turned out to be an undercover cop. The cop arrested him for blasphemy. This is part of Pakistan’s crackdown on social media freedoms. Because 15 others faced charges for this last year. There are also crackdowns on social media posts against the Pakistan government and military. Unfortunately, this is the new normal over there. Because last year, they passed the?Prevention of Electronic Crime Act.
Don’t think other people don’t notice. There is already an outcry about such human rights abuses. And it’s not just in Pakistan. This concerns much of the world. However, the Pakistan government shows no remorse. They still urge citizens to turn in others when they post ‘blasphemous’ things on Twitter and Facebook. However, Raza’s situation is nothing compared to what others are getting. Some people are being mobbed to death over such ‘blasphemous speech’.
So one question is, “What’s causing such extreme human rights abuse?” Is it all the Pakistani government? Or is that government giving the majority of the people what they want? One way or another, they need to break this cycle. It’s bad enough somebody loses their job over a Facebook post. That’s not right. But a Pakistan man gets death sentence? This is an assault on freedom of expression all over the world. Those of us in IT service in any capacity, whether it’s a computer repair technician to Microsoft CEO should be concerned. I say this because if they use social media to execute people for blasphemy, how far will they go? And social media is a beacon of free speech. But they use it as a way to silence it. Should this not concern us?