Facebook said Wednesday it
has executed a court order to take down two pages called Muslims
of Italy - one a community page and the other an invitation-only
group page.
A Reggio Emilia judge ordered the pages shut down on March
8, following a February 25 post with threatening and defamatory
content targeting 31-year-old journalist Benedetta Salsi, a
court reporter at Il Resto del Carlino regional daily.
"We will ask the judge to reconsider the appropriateness of
a measure targeting an entire group or page rather than single
defamatory comments," a Facebook spokesperson told the daily.
The post that appeared on February 25 contained allegations
about Salsi's private and professional life, and called her "an
Islamophobe".
"Under the Islamic juridical statute, such acts can be
severely punished," the Muslims of Italy page reportedly said.
Salsi reported the incident to the local division of the
Digos anti-terror squad, while Reggio Emilia police beefed up
security at the paper's newsroom in the heart of the city's
historic district.
The online threats appeared the day Salsi reported on
restrictive court measures issued against an unemployed Reggio
man who converted to Islam a decade ago and who was one of the
administrators of the Muslims of Italy page.
Salsi reported he was being considered "dangerous" by the
court due to his comments on Facebook, for which he was
investigated for terrorism by Bologna prosecutors.
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