Story highlights
Pakistan says Twitter did not remove links to a competition to post Mohammed images
Such images are prohibited in Islam
Pakistan has asked Twitter to remove the material, a government spokesman says
The Pakistani government has blocked the social networking site Twitter because of material it deemed an affront to Islam, a government official told CNN on Sunday.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Information Technology said Twitter was blocked Sunday because the site did not remove links and references to a competition on Facebook to post images of the Muslim prophet Mohammed.
“The government is in contact with Twitter and had asked them to remove the material. When they didn’t, it was decided that the site would be blocked,” said spokesman Naveed Ahmed.
The teachings of Islam prohibit images of God and Mohammed.
Ahmed said officials from Pakistan’s Telecommunications Authority will meet Monday to see where things stand with their demand for Twitter to remove the material and what to do next.
There was no immediate comment from Twitter or Facebook.