Mark Zuckerberg Facing Tough Free Speech Questions, Recalls Pakistani Death Threats

In response to the terror attack at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said he has also been threatened by extremists, as reported by the American Herald. A few yeas ago, a Pakistan based extremist group threatened to sentence him to death unless he censored online content, particularly content that insulted Mohammed and Islam. “We stood up for this (not censoring) because different voices, even if they are sometimes offensive, can make the world a better and more interesting place … we never let one country or group of people dictate what people can share across the world. I won’t let (that kind of censorship) happen on Facebook. I”m committed to building a service where you can speak freely without fear of violence.”

Speaking of speaking freely, this time about Facebook rather than just on Facebook, Mark Zuckeberg will be holding an international town hall meeting in Bogota, Columbia. While his meetings in the past have been informal gatherings where he has answered questions about what pizza he likes in the U.S., and in China, where he practiced Mandarin, judging from a sampling of pre-submitted questions, Zuckerman is going to have to come up with answers to some pressing issues. The questions ask Mark Zuckerberg how Facebook can remedy the problems of socieconomic inequality, lack of educations and limits on free expression. Another teenager asked him how Latin American users can be “more connected to the internet.” Another young adult asked if Zuckerberg would be willing to open educational centers for people to learn basic programming and coding.