The online advertising industry of Pakistan has been doubling in size since 2005, on average. Ninety percent of advertisers prefer facebook to target over 2 million Pakistani users on the social network.
For every $25,000 worth of advertising spent on facebook, according to industry sources, about $50,000 is spent in domestic economy on creating applications and page management. In other words, if this ban persists for long, it might hit back at Pakistani businesses more than it will ever affect facebook.
Of course, economics alone cannot make banning facebook an issue amongst the urban youth and middle-aged people. Its the charisma of virtual social networking, thanks to a profound lack of other recreational activities.
Who could have ever guessed that in less than four years time facebook would be the centre of a global controversy? A cause of protests, much like a political rally or a social cause; erupting from a skirmish based on faith. Yes, times are changing fast and the modes of protest, with them.
In response to US television network, Comedy Centrals censoring of blasphemous content, a particular cartoonist in Seattle, created a facebook poster inviting other artists to draw cartoons of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
In reaction, a group protesting blasphemy was launched on facebook, with abuse reports of the forums terms of use falling on deaf ears.
Just as the call to draw cartoons attracted thousands of artists, the call to shun facebook spread like a viral infection. Both groups ended up in a pitched battle on the clouds, each with thousands of members.
In light of these developments, the Lahore High Court banned facebook on Wednesday. The countrywide ban that extends until May 31 was swiftly followed by the temporary shutting down of blackberry services from telecom providers, Youtube, Flicker and the English version Wikipedia.
By the time of this writing Wikipedia is reopened while blackberry consumers cannot access facebook from their handsets. Earlier in morning, Google was restricted for a few minutes which left researchers to other search engines. However, if all the renowned search engines would have been banned, analysts across the industries would be left with only printed versions of newspapers to work.
Surprisingly, however, the mother-of-all-evil website continued to remain accessible; though reportedly, it was subsequently hacked by a Turkish group.
Facebook has been blocked intermittently in several countries, including Pakistan, Syria, China, Vietnam and Iran. It has also been banned at many places of work to discourage employees from wasting time.
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