Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Facing the Facebook Fiasco


What just happened, simply amazes me and makes me wonder if the our government will ever cease to surprise us with its ... well, I don't want to sound harsh!

I mean, one commoner such as me in Pakistan logs on to Facebook and finds that it has been BLOCKED (actually banned)! argh!



Yes, I know what has been going on, on Facebook for more than a week and what has been and is being done as retaliation to it but among all remedies such as boycotting Facebook for a day or for ever, protesting against what is happening, creating independent positive initiatives in the forms of 'events' and 'groups' by the users, blocking Facebook on a national level by the government seems to be not only useless but even counter-productive.

And the funniest in the saddest way ever is the fact that I can still access Facebook, yes, haha. See this ...


(It's 6 pm now, more than half an hour since Facebook had been blocked as you can see the sudden pause of posts from people in my NewsFeed except for me)


C'mon, even kids in junior school now know about Proxy sites! Too bad, those who have blocked Facebook do not have an updated list of proxy sites, with the help of which they could block back door entrances to Facebook as well... which in a way makes me less desperate and angry about the weird logic our government uses in situations such as these.

I am the victim emotional distress, and I am the one who has now been barred from expressing my feelings! So much for the 'freedom of speech' and justice!

*shuts her laptop tight and goes to the balcony to get some fresh air*


PS: Facebook right now feels very similar to what the streets of NewYork looked like in the movie 'I am Legend' - horrifyingly devoid of life!


Update (6:40 pm) : well, I didn't go to the balcony because it had a lock on it and i was too lazy to get the keys from downstairs but look what I found... The Express Tribune, a Pakistani publication, reports exactly the same thing that I talked about; proxy sites and how tech-savvy Pakistanis are still using Facebook making PTA's effort of blocking Facebook only a symbolic gesture. Here is the link to the article.

20 comments:

  1. Yeah this is very unfortunate how it all turned out to be. I wasn't in favor of individual protests etc .. but when the Govt. intervened it made sense .... the irony is that even that didn't bring any solid response from the facebook team. thats what helped in changing my stance. When I saw the bitter side of facebook ..


    Anyways, nicely pointed out fact about proxies ...



    - Tirmizi

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  2. but hearing PTA's head talk to Kamran Khan on his show, i got to know that the actual purpose of the govt. was not to protest but to actually stop people from viewing the blasphemous content! and that logic i found sick for some reason..

    soon after, youtube and wikipedia was banned too.. outrageously illogical.

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  3. It makes sense when we drive them out on the basis of our consumer power,if we 1.5 billion muslims boycott it,their ad revenues would get crippled and they would know what happens when these applications uses dual policy,go and make pro-hitler pages/groups there,you would know about their freedom of speech,its sad to see that you will get enraged even if i just say that i will f*** you or your mother in my dream but will apply every logic to be indifferent when it comes to best of mankind or best of religion as there are already many groups there who says the same about Islam,thats what 'wahn'is in majority of muslim hearts.We don't feel personal about our religion simply.Still you were trying to proxy sites,its sick like the example i used to make you realize!

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  4. Salamz

    sorry who ever u r ....

    if something is blocked on nationwide level, there must be some logic behind it. You r not matured enuff to understand it.

    where there is a will there is a way... yeah neone can access it evn after if all proxy sites are blocked ....

    Sorry to say but our govt. is well aware of proxy sites... there r always some limitations, laws and regulations they hv to follow ... nd if u knw some sites they skipped, its ur job to let them knw.

    this is not first time some country blocked facebook... go n research...

    My friend ... this is wat people lyk you promoting things lyk proxy sites ... c'mon if u know it ... y u r promoting ??? If neone did something against our belief ... we hv to take step... otherwise we will be the weakest nation or ummat...

    Sorry to say but it will be good if u hide the links u demonstrated in screenshot u pasted... try to understand in ++ve way ... criticism is not always a solution.

    Hope i made my self clear

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  5. @ anonymous 1,

    Well, I was nevver for boycott initially until i got to know about their dual policy. Alhamdulillah, I stay away from the hypocritical website. And YES, it is Very VULGAR of you indeed to give such an example.

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  6. @anonymous 2,

    ok, if something is blocked for a specific reason in only one country in the entire wide world and i am not mature enough to understand it, then i must be told Why my right to access non-blasphemous pages is being taken away.

    my friend, whenever a government takes an initiative and creates a policy, the most important thing about it is to educate people about it. Why did Pakistan ban it like that? I had no idea, when i wrote this post.

    1) Was it a sign of protest to Facebook?

    2) Was it an attempt to actually stop people from viewing it?

    Sadly, it was the second one. that is whey PTA's head with an interview with Kamran Khan at his show that they would even consider blocking the whole internet if they had to (on top of banning Youtube, Wikipedia, Flickr, etc)

    So, the intention clearly was to stop people from viewing it and not a protest against the blasphemy.

    Seriously, how many people in Pakistan would be there who would actually visit those blasphemous cartoons and watch them?

    //If neone did something against our belief ... we hv to take step... otherwise we will be the weakest nation or ummat//

    haha, if you are boycotting a platform, means you are running away from the whole issue, closing you eyes in the face of danger!!! there are many things other than boycotting that you can do to propagate and defend your stance

    E.g. I was using the proxy sites to make groups on FB to counter attack that stupid drawing group. THAT was what i was using the proxy sites for. But some people will only see the most negative thing out of an act that they don't like in the first place.

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  7. We should not concern wat others have done… either they protest or raise voice against anything.

    Educating and awareness to an illiterate nation???… u tell me if government would ask you either they should block … wat would u say ??? simply NO… u think education would be effective enuff to convince u?
    about Youtube and Wikipedia, they come in the Circle of Demonstration for that cruel event.

    Secondly, Arguments promote the fame of discussion that brutes the topic. So viewing and protestation against the blasphemy was restricted.

    If I tell u a URL to check the blasphemous cartoons, somehow u will try to visit, it’s not ur fault, just a human physiology…

    If I m boycotting a platform, means I m willing to stand against it, and ready to face it. Facebook is blocked and I m its addict, If I m agreed and happy on its restriction, means I m ready to fight against my addiction.

    I am a Computer specialist and Internet Engineer, I know thousand ways to approach Facebook, but the day Facebook got blocked, I swear I never tried to approach it cus I hv values for my belief.

    Khair do u think ur counter attack worth enuff to stop them ??? it just raise their moral to destroy our religion.

    Thanx

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  8. typo: its human psychology not physiology ...

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  9. your argument is fallacious.

    check out what that means at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallacy

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  10. Sister ... you go and visit

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad

    scroll down ... n check

    u will find why wikipedia got restricted...

    aray haan ... try to visit it frm ur Proxy sites

    please paste wat u get....

    aldabest ...

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  11. thank you brother for giving me your valuable advice (from behind that curtain of anonymity,lol)

    Btw, i don't use proxies for random purposes, like you do B)

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  12. :) beta dont worry non of the people in ur circle is behind this curtain.... I just checked randomly ...

    neways u hv nice writings :)

    all the best :) will keep on visiting...

    thanx ...

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  13. n please can u delete my post of wikipedia link as i dont want to promote ...

    its not good... i tried but unable to ...

    thanx

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  14. My apologies...

    it will be good and appreciated if u delete it ....

    baqi it up to u ...

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  15. it will remain there as a proof of my claim that there are hypocrites in this world... they claim that the government's ban was justified and criticize people who use proxy sites, yet visit those banned sites and use proxies themselves.. tch tch...

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  16. jao jao ... when u r unable to justify ur arguments... u just simple say a hypocrite ...

    neways ... new born cries alot :) ... grow up :P

    thanx

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  17. lol, are you kidding me!? aren't you a hypocrite when you are condemning me for using proxy sites and are using them your self?!

    lol, this is my blog and i can do whatever i want to.. you are the farigh one, cry baby tch tch.

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  18. lolz ... u r marketing ur proxies ... wat they r paying u btw ???
    infact this blog explains who is the most farigh person inda world ... a person who is explain the weather ... lolz ...

    deleting posts ... made u win ???? u r a looser ...

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  19. lmao... the spelling's loser, not looser :P :P :P

    listen btw, as faarigh as you are, why don't you hit the dictionary ONCE before visiting my precious blog a zillion times?!

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