Twitter in Pakistan
Jihad on Twitter

Gambling sites in Pakistan have it so hard that entering the market is not a sensible business strategy.

Since many, many years Jihad has taken to cyber-terrorism. But, who would expect a United Nations-recognized state to yield to Jihadists?

According to the latest international news, Pakistan is doing it. No wonder, after all this is the country where its intelligence and security forces protected Osama Bin Laden himself, as well as co-operated with the Taliban despite receiving tens of billions of dollars in Western aid.

Just now, six million Twitter users in Pakistan have been cut out from Twitter by Pakistani telecommunications ministry after the social media giant declined to remove comments promoting a Facebook contest for the best picture of Prophet Mohammad. The fact is, Twitter is a portal and it allows the members free expression. By allowing the comments, Twitter neither supports the contest nor opposes it. Twitter, like most media, stays neutral.

Facebook has also been a target of Islamic fundamentalists when it was blocked in May 2010 by Pakistani government for allowing its hundreds of millions of users to express views freely. Some Islamic groups, even Pakistani students studying in Western universities at the cost of Western taxpayers, protested fiercely and declared a Holy War on Facebook.

The media crackdown in Pakistan goes way back when YouTube became a target of Pakistani authorities. Who’s next? Certainly not Jihadist sites, which get clear support from Pakistan.

Gambling and sports betting sites have also been under constant pressure and blocking. Even betting on cricket, a national pastime in Pakistan, has many fiercely opposed critics as something un-Islamic. While things such as marrying own cousins are accepted, competitions such as blackjack tournaments face public scrutiny as an evil pastime.

It goes as far that even those playing mobile bingo face public pressure. But, after all, can you control people and what they’re doing over the Internet? One thing is sure: gamblers in Pakistan beware.