'Blasphemy case': Mark Zuckerberg reveals why he avoids coming to Pakistan

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Meta – the parent company of social media giants Facebook and Instagram – has revealed why he avoids visiting Pakistan.

In a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Zuckerberg said that he once faced legal trouble in Pakistan on blasphemy allegations.

Narrating a story from 2010, he said a criminal investigation was launched against him in Pakistan over a blasphemous contest on Facebook.

“The investigation was launched under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws that can carry the death penalty,” he said, explaining that it all started when someone pointed out how drawing caricatures was committing blasphemy against the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in Islamic culture.

“This led to legal action in Pakistan, preventing me from travelling there due to possible legal risks.”

Zuckerberg also highlighted the challenges tech companies face in handling different cultural and legal rules worldwide. “There are all these places around the world that just have different values… and want us to crack down on and ban way more stuff than I think a lot of people would believe is the right thing to do,” he noted.

It merits a mention that a spike has been recorded in the number of cases against Pakistan’s blasphemy laws in recent years. Most of these cases pertain to alleged blasphemy over the internet on social media platforms.

Just last month a court awarded death sentence to four men for uploading blasphemous content on Facebook. Additional Sessions Judge Mohammad Tariq Ayub convicted Wajid Ali, Ahfaq Ali Saqib, Rana Usman and Suleman Sajid for insulting the Prophet (PBUH).

“The judge after hearing arguments of both prosecution and defence and witnesses accounts awarded the death penalty and 80 years imprisonment to each of them on different counts,” reports quoted an official as saying.

Meanwhile, a report issued by the Special Branch in Punjab has revealed that over 400 young boys and girls are reportedly being persecuted in Pakistan under the blasphemy law for sharing blasphemous content on the internet.

The report stated that a suspicious gang “The Blasphemy Business” was trapping young boys and girls into “committing” blasphemy and then reported them to the Federal Investigating Agency (FIA). The gang was reportedly doing this heinous act for financial gain.

FIA confirmed receiving the report on the “The Blasphemy Business” group in January 2024, in which it mentioned that a special gang was a complainant in 90 per cent of blasphemy cases, the document added.