Bangladesh blocks Facebook access

Facebook has been blocked in Pakistan and Bangladesh

Bangladesh has become the second Muslim country to block citizens from accessing Facebook.

The decision came after caricatures of the prophet Muhammad and the country's leaders were uploaded to the social network, according to the AFP news agency, which spoke with the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

The BTRC said a man was arrested on Saturday in connection with the images, and that public access to Facebook would be restored once the offending images are permanently blocked from view.

The censorship follows a protest on Friday in Bangladesh where thousands of people took to the streets and demanded the government ban Facebook because of satirical depictions of Muhammad and the country's leaders.

Depictions of Muhammad are forbidden by a number of Islamic texts.

A controversial anti-Islamic group called Everybody Draw Muhammad Day invited Facebook users to draw and submit their pictures of the prophet.

The initial group reportedly had 43,000 supporters, while other groups and events supporting the cause have thousands more followers, all claiming to support " peace, freedom of speech, and human rights".

However, two Facebook groups opposing the day have about 216,000 followers.

EveryBody Draw Muhammad Day was initiated by US cartoonist Molly Norris, who reacted against the internet death threats made against cartoonists for depicting Muhammad in an episode of South Park.

Pakistan ordered ISPs to block access to Facebook the day before the 20 May event.