Facebook bows to Pak pressure: Bans rock band Laal, anti-Taliban groups

Facebook has blocked the page of a popular Pakistani rock band and other anti-Taliban accounts at the request of the government. The Facebook page of rock band "Laal" (Red), which was set up by a group of progressive musicians in 2007, has been blocked. Laal Facebook page has more than 400,000 likes.An official of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority confirmed that they asked Facebook to block certain accounts against which the authority had received complaints. "Taalibansarezalimans", an anti-Taliban forum and "Pakistani.meem", a secular site have been recently blocked.  The group Laal frequently performs at progressive seminars and meetings. Some of its song are highly political and anti status coup. Laal's lead member Taimur Rehman told media that they were not informed about the decision.  Pakistan frequently bans social websites. YouTube which was banned in 2012 still remains out of access.  PTI