Lahore: Pakistan lifted a ban on Facebook on Monday after officials from the social networking site apologized for a page deemed offensive to Muslims and removed its contents, a top information technology official said.
The move came almost two weeks after Pakistan imposed the ban amid anger over a page that encouraged users to post images of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)
Many Muslims regard depictions of the prophet, even favorable ones, as blasphemous.
"In response to our protest, Facebook has tendered their apology and informed us that all the sacrilegious material has been removed from the URL," said Najibullah Malik, secretary of Pakistan's information technology ministry.
Facebook assured the Pakistani government that "nothing of this sort will happen in the future," Malik said.
Pakistan blocked Facebook on May 19 following a ruling by one of the country's highest courts.
The Lahore High Court reversed its ruling Monday because of Facebook's response, Malik said.
As of midday, access to Facebook inside Pakistan was still restricted. But Malik said the government has issued instructions for Internet service providers to restore access to the website.
Users outside the country confirmed the page that sparked the recent uproar was no longer accessible.
The government will continue to block some Web pages that contain "sacrilegious material," but Malik declined to specify which ones.
The Facebook controversy sparked a handful of protests across Pakistan, many by student members of radical Islamic groups. Some of the protesters carried signs advocating holy war against the website for allowing the page.
Bangladesh also decided to block Facebook on Sunday but said it would restore access to the site if the offensive material was removed.
