WASHINGTON: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg revealed some shocking news on Thursday night (Jan 8) in a personal post on his Facebook page. Following the tragic deaths of journalists in Paris who were killed when they were caught making controversial drawings of Prophet Muhammad, Zuckerberg decided to share his feeling about a time he was threatened and speak out against the events.
Facebook honcho Mark Zuckerberg triggered off an online avalanche of protests, and a war of words between Pakistani trolls and Indian baiters, after revealing in the midst of the Charlie Hedbo imbroglio that a Pakistani extremist had sought to have him sentenced to death because Facebook refused to ban content about Mohammed that offended him.
Zuckerberg did not identify the extremist but the mere mention of Pakistan brought that country’s online defenders into the fray. “You can’t just blame the whole nation on the basis of one person’s act,” one Pakistani follower contested on Zuckerberg’s Facebook page.
Here’s the full text of Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook post:
A few years ago, an extremist in Pakistan fought to have me sentenced to death because Facebook refused to ban content about Mohammed that offended him.
We stood up for this because different voices — even if they’re sometimes offensive — can make the world a better and more interesting place.
Facebook has always been a place where people across the world share their views and ideas. We follow the laws in each country, but we never let one country or group of people dictate what people can share across the world.
Yet as I reflect on yesterday’s attack and my own experience with extremism, this is what we all need to reject — a group of extremists trying to silence the voices and opinions of everyone else around the world.
I won’t let that happen on Facebook. I’m committed to building a service where you can speak freely without fear of violence.
My thoughts are with the victims, their families, the people of France and the people all over the world who choose to share their views and ideas, even when that takes courage.
