Facebook ban: major businesses, NGOs affected



More than 38 major businesses and NGOs in Pakistan have been hit by the nationwide ban on popular social networking website Facebook.

Companies like uFone, Mobilink, Zong, DELL Pakistan and Pepsi Pakistan that have active Facebook pages with the number of members lying between 10,000 to 99,000, have been cut off from what was otherwise an easily accessible audience for marketing purposes.

Additionally, at least 500 companies in Pakistan having a Facebook presence are currently suffering as a result of the ongoing ban.

Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms used by corporate and community organistations to connect easily with their targeted markets. Information about new products and services, events and community-based development projects are often communicated through Facebook pages.

Using Facebook pages has been so effective that some small companies have carried out their businesses solely by marketing on Facebook. Many local companies also use Facebook ads which can be obtained at a low cost to reach out to wider audiences.

All such activities came to a halt with Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) ban on Facebook throughout the country. Companies who had already bought ad space from Facebook for a specified number of days have lost out on their investments as the Pakistani market will be unable to see the ads on Facebook till May 31.

There is some good news for these companies and NGOs as Facebook has opted to remove the offending page which had begun this controversy, but it remains to be seen whether the ban on Facebook will be removed or extended beyond May 31.

Below follows a list of businesses and NGOs affected by the Facebook ban. The list has been obtained from:

http://pakistan.wikia.com/wiki/Internet_censorship

Business Pages (Commercial pages. Includes services.)

NGOs/ Community-Based Organizations' Pages All non-profit, advocacy organizations)

Organizational/ Institutional Pages (Universities, governmental agencies, utilities, etc.)

Government Pages

COMMENTS (39)

Mujahid Ali | 13 years ago | Reply In my opinion,only the that portion of face book that that is causing embarrassment.
Asad Zia | 13 years ago | Reply ***Ban on face book is a bold step of Pakistani government and it means that our government has the power to stop this kind of acts. I think that ban on facebook is not correct decision because it not only use for wrong work but for also right works, large numbers of people share through facebook Qurani Iayat and discuss other Islamicrelated issues. Asad Zia*** asadzia2pk@yahoo.com
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