Pakistan govt requests for Facebook data on the rise

The social network also restricted access to 6 pages

Facebook Inc on Thursday said government requests for user account data rose by nine per cent in the second half of 2016 compared to the first half of the year.

An even more dramatic trend was witnessed in the case of Pakistan, where total requests for the period July 2016 to December 2016 shot up by more than 40 per cent compared to the last six months.



The Government of Pakistan made a total of 1,002 requests for 1,431 account requests in the second quarter of 2016. Facebook produced data in 67 per cent of these cases. The social networking website also provided information on the number of account preservation requests by Pakistan – 442 cases.



The social networking giant also restricted access to a total of 6 pages for violating local laws which is considerably lower than the 25 restricted in the first half of 2016.

“Based on legal requests from the Pakistan Telecom Authority, we restricted access to content for allegedly violating local laws prohibiting blasphemy, desecration of the national flag, and condemnation of the country’s independence,” a statement on Facebook’s website read.



Facebook has also, for the very first time provided on internet disruptions in countries. “For the first time, we’re also including information about internet disruptions that impacted access to Facebook products and services during the half,” says Facebook.



In Pakistan’s case, there was only one incidence of disruption affecting access to Facebook products and services that took place during November 2016. The disruption was restricted to specific regions and coincided with the observance of the chelum of Imam Hussain (RA).

Government requests for account data globally rose to 64,279 from 59,229 and more than half request the US contained a non-disclosure order that prohibited the social networking website from notifying users.