FACEBOOK SHOWS BIAS: TAKES DOWN POPULAR PAKISTANI FAN-PAGE

Facebook has this morning taken down one of the most popular ‘fan-pages’ on its site without offering as much as an explanation to nearly 20,000 of its members.


The page titled ‘SYED ZAID ZAMAN HAMID: OFFICIAL’ has been taken offline for what Facebook calls ‘violation of terms and conditions’, without providing details as to exactly what term or condition was violated.



Zaid Hamid is Pakistan’s most highly rated and popular Security and Defence analyst, with regular tv appearances on all major Pakistani channels as well as Doha based Al-Jazeera TV and occasionally on Indian media. He has featured in many popular tv shows, covering a wide rage of topics such as Islamic history, philosophy, and regional security and geo-politics. Zaid has also featured alongside Ali Azmat, a veteran of the Pakistani popular music scene, in a show titled ‘Iqbal ka Pakistan’ on the youth-oriented ‘AAG’ tv channel; one of the most watched tv programmes with the highest ratings for the tv network.

Zaid Hamid is one of Pakistan’s most popular figures and has in a very short time become the voice of the youth of Pakistan who feel frustrated at the incompetence of the US installed democratic government. In his tv programmes, Zaid has constantly called for a complete review of Pakistan’s relations with the United States, due to the latter’s inability to purge the influx of weapons and funds from Afghanistan directed to terrorists in Pakistan.



Zaid’s facebook page, launched just over a month ago, had reached almost 20,000 members before it was taken offline by facebook, and was used mainly for updates on upcoming television and public appearances, and sharing photographs and videos of Zaid’s TV appearances.



Facebook have yet to provide an actual explanation as opposed to a generic automated message. Untill the time that facebook provides the exact reason for taking down Mr.Hamid’s page, it will be considered as yet another attempt to silence the critics of the US-backed government of Pakistan and will only add to the disenchangtment of Pakistan’s youth with the current establishment.