Pakistan threatens to block social media over ‘blasphemy’

ISLAMABAD AFP March9, 2017- A Pakistani court has ordered the government to open an investigation into online “blasphemy”, threatening to ban social media networks if they failed to censor content deemed insulting to Islam, lawyers said Thursday.  

The issue came to the fore in January when five secular activists known for their outspoken views against religious extremism and the powerful military were disappeared, presumed abducted by state agencies according to opposition parties and international rights groups.  

Four of them were later returned to their families weeks later, but not before they were tarnished by a virulent campaign to paint them enemies of Islam deserving execution.  

Rights groups say the label of blasphemer is liberally applied by religious conservatives in order to silence criticism of extremism.