Lahore High Court during a hearing has ordered to lift ban on Facebook. Court has asked the government to make arrangements for making Facebook accessible in Pakistan.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, after getting directive from Ministry of IT and Telecom will ask ISPs to unblock facebook.
It is expected that Facebook will be available in Pakistan by evening today.
Earlier, Facebook was banned in the country due to blasphemous content on some of its pages.
Update: Geo TV has reported that Government and PTA briefed the High Court that they have received confirmations from Facebook owners that no such (draw) competition will happen again on social networking website.
LHC in its judgment said that it will ban Facebook again in case of any blasphemy incident in future.
IT and Telecom Director Muddasir Hasan told the court that Facebook has appointed a representative who will remain in constant contact with Pakistan.
“Facebook administration has also been told that the content they showed on their website is a crime according to Pakistani laws,” he said. “Facebook officials have agreed to refrain from posting such content in the future.”
Islamic Lawyers Forum opposed opening Facebook, but Justice Aijaz Chaudhry said that if such a thing happens again, it will be banned.
The court has summoned a reply from the government regarding filing a case against Facebook owners.
A further hearing is scheduled for June 15, reported Business Week.
Here is Press Release from Ministry of Information and Technology
Update 2: PTA has confirmed us that they have received notification from Ministry of IT and Telecom. A subsequent order has been issued to all ISPs for Facebook restoration.
Update 3: Facebook is reported accessible, around the country on various ISPs.
Update 4: Facebook has started appearing on most of ISPs, though Flickr and miniopera are still blocked.
Update 5: Facebook is now accessible on mobile networks plus blackberry. Operamini is also open. Flickr is still showing “Site is Restricted” message.
