Facebook now a hub for net savvy Pak terrorists

Aug 21, 2010 |

Karachi, Aug. 20: Hardline groups in Pakistan are plugging into Western online favourites Facebook and Twitter in a bid to win friends and influence people.

Tweeting their view of a civilisation clash between the West and Islam, and posting comments that advocate violence against non-Muslims, groups that are officially banned in Pakistan have found a welter of freedom online.

There they have been allowed to operate without censorship from Pakistani authorities, who have instead restricted access to hundreds of Internet pages for “anti-Islamic content”.

Mr Amir Rana, an expert on the Taliban and militancy in Pakistan, said that extremists had found an easy outlet in social media. “Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook give banned groups and other extremist groups a good forum for carrying forward their agenda. They are effective tools.”

Groups with Facebook pages include Sipah Sahaba, a banned militant Sunni Islamic organisation accused of sectarian bombings, and Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which is on the UN terror blacklist and linked by India to the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

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