Up until Friday afternoon, the Pakistani Taliban was using Facebook to recruit members.
The organization, responsible for the 2007 assassination of Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and other heinous acts, was running a Facebook page called Umar Media TTP before it was shut down by the social network company at some point today.
The Australian newspaper The Telegraph reported that Ehsanullah Ehsan, the spokesperson for the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, had confirmed that they were behind the page and that it was a temporary fix until the organization had its website up and running.
Prior to its deletion, Umar Media TTP had over 280 likes and was apparently being used as a recruitment tool. Specifically, the organization was looking to find editors and writers for its new quarterly magazine, Ahyah-e-Khilafat.
“Pen is mightier than the sword. Now you have a chance to use this mighty weapon,” one post read, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Would you like to be a writer for Ahyah-e-Khilafat? You can write to us on the topic of your choice, or on jihadi current affairs, history, Islamic movements,” it continued.
Facebook confirmed to the Daily Dot that the page had been shut down due to its terroristic ties.
“At Facebook, we have rules that bar direct statements of hate, attacks on private individuals and groups, and the promotion of terrorism,” a company spokesperson told us via email.
“We have a large team of professional investigators both in the US and abroad who enforce these rules. Where abusive content is posted and reported, Facebook removes it and disables accounts of those responsible. Whenever we become aware of possible violations of our terms, we will investigate these instances and take action if violations of our Statements of Rights and Responsibilities take place.”
Facebook provided a similar comment in August 2012 when they shut down Hezbollah’s page.
When asked for the exact time of the closure, the spokesperson responded by saying that they had no more information to give.
A second page called Umar Media TTP was created on Wednesday. It’s unclear whether the terrorist organization is behind this page as well.
Photo via isafmedia/Flickr
