ISLAMABAD, May 19 About 2.3 million Pakistanis could not access their facebook accounts on Wednesday when the government blocked the website for publishing 'profane anti-Islamic' content.

Following orders from the Lahore High Court, the government blocked 'Facebook' and all other internet links displaying sacrilegious caricatures of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him).

The Ministry of Information Technology issued a directive to the Pakistan

Telecommunication Authority to remain alert and watchful and block all such links that displayed profane caricatures immediately.

The ministry also set up a dedicated line and an email address and requested public at large to contact and convey information about objectionable material posted online such as the caricatures displayed at the Facebook website.

The PTA had directed all concerned operators in Pakistan to block website www.facebook.com until further orders.

On May 18, the PTA had issued instructions to all operators to block the objectionable link/URL on Facebook.

“Objectionable material had been popping up from different URLs that came into notice of the court and thus ordered blockage of the entire website,” said the convener of Internet Service Provider Association of Pakistan, Wahajus Siraj.

The 'hate material' was a violation of Facebook's Fair Use Policy that prohibited nudity and abusive, vulgar and derogatory material to be posted online, he said.

“People had been registering complaints with Facebook administration for almost three weeks. As a global social network Facebook should have realised their responsibility and blocked this particular community that was mocking a revered figure for the Muslims. Facebook has blocked communities spreading hate material before,” said Wahajus.

According to the MoIT, Facebook.com was the third most accessed website from Pakistan, after google.com.pk and google.com. More than 2.3 million registered Facebook account holders from Pakistan made up 0.51 per cent of Facebook.com's percentage of Global Audience. Shutting down Facebook over the blasphemous cartoon competition drew mixed reaction from users. While many appreciated the blocking of the website, others called it unnecessary.

“Of course it's wrong. But it's going to take more than a comment from an unknown online community on Facebook to weaken or break Islam,” said a

Facebook user who missed contacting her relatives abroad until Tuesday were only a click away.

Amna Agha, a frequent Facebook user, said Pakistanis did not have to get out of control to express their views and give the West a reason to declare them uncivilised. “There is always a peaceful way to protest. They should have blocked the link. And if they can't block all the links then incompetence lies with the government's IT departments.”

Faisal Javed held almost a similar opinion. He said “True it's offensive to depict the Prophet (PBUH). But it would have been better to let people decide if they wanted to remain connected through Facebook. It's ridiculous to deprive more than two million people of a site that connected them with their loved ones across continents through the fastest means of communication possible.”