Once again, Syria bans Facebook
Editor's Note: Facebook has been blocked in Syria consistently for the past two years; therefore, the statement that a ban will be “reintroduced” is incorrect. The linked article from ‘Al Quds Al Arabi’,” which has since been removed, did not actually claim that Syria planned to reintroduce a ban. The information regarding Syrian users’ protests, however, is correct (most Syrian Facebook users access the network using a proxy).
According to Al Quds Al Arabi newspaper, Syria is planning to reintroduce the ban on Facebook after a first ban of the social networking website in November 2007. This came after Facebook allowed residents of the Golan Heights to mark their country of abode as Israel. Until recently Golan Facebook users were compelled to enter Syria as their country of residence on their page. This change came after a campaign organized by HonestReporting, an organization dedicated to defending Israel, who launched the Facebook group “Facebook, Golan Residents Live in Israel, not Syria“.
Image Source: honestreporting.com
On the other hand, Syrian activists are also planning to launch a campaign to boycott the website after it's recognition of Israel's claim over Golan heights.
Image Source: jawlan.org
5 comments
Syria didn’t “un-ban” Facebook in the first place to ban it again, it was banned back in 2007 and the ban still consistently stands. Also, the linked source only talks about a boycott campaign against Facebook. Talk about misinformation.
Facebook’s decision is outrageous yet not surprising. Kudos to occupation.
Hi Tal,
Facebook has been consistently blocked over the past two years, and was never unblocked (see OpenNet Initiative’s study on the matter: http://opennet.net/country/syria).
It is true that Syrian activists are campaigning against Facebook’s decision to allow Israeli users to claim Golan online, however, Syrian Facebook users are accessing the site using circumvention tools and proxies, which are quite prevalent in Syria.
Best,
Jillian
This post is in spanish now:
Este post está en castellano:
http://es.globalvoicesonline.org/2009/09/21/otra-vez-siria-bloquea-facebook/