Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is calling on Facebook to treat Islamophobia in the same way as Holocaust denial. “It cannot be that hate speech about some is not allowed, but about others is.”
Khan rightly calls it that Facebook is going to do more to tackle Holocaust denial, but also wants that protection for fellow believers. He sees parallels with the persecution of the Jews in World War II or the violent pogroms from Eastern Europe.
“Today we see pogroms against Muslims in different parts of the world”, Khan writes on the social medium in a letter to Mark Zuckerberg. “We must ban Islamophobia before Muslims are prosecuted.”
France explicitly mentioned
Khan refers to the treatment of Muslims by India’s archenemy. But he also writes about Muslims in France, “where blasphemous cartoons directed against Islam and the Holy Prophet are allowed”. President Macron wants to act strongly against extremist Muslims the beheading of a teacher which Mohammed cartoons showed to illustrate freedom of speech.
“How is France going to distinguish between radical Muslims and average Muslim citizens?” Khan wonders. “Marginalization inevitably leads to extremism, and the world doesn’t need it.”
A spokesperson for Facebook tells Reuters news agency that all messages in which people are attacked by origin or religion are prohibited. “Hate speech will be removed as soon as it comes to our attention,” said the spokesman, admitting that there is “more work to be done”.
Collision with Macron
Khan spoke earlier in the day to French President Macron about his statements in response to the attack on the teacher. He denounced the harsh French approach to Muslim organizations and advised Macron to strive for reconciliation.
Macron did not respond directly to Khan’s words. He did say that he wanted to stand up for peaceful debate and “never, never give up”.
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