Pakistan asks Facebook for strict implementation of banning laws, offers office

Pakistan asks Facebook for strict implementation of banning laws, offers office

A senior Facebook official met with Pakistan's interior minister on Friday to discuss a demand the company prevent blasphemous content or be blocked.

The meeting comes after a Pakistani counter-terrorism court sentenced a 30-year-old man to death for making blasphemous comments on Facebook, part of a wider crack-down.

Joel Kaplan, Facebook's vice president of public policy, met Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan, who offered to approve a Facebook office in Pakistan, which has 33 million users of the network.

Khan said Pakistan believes in freedom of expression, but that does not include insulting Islam or stoking religious tensions.

"We cannot allow anyone to misuse social media for hurting religious sentiments," Khan said.