Facebook disables Bhutto profiles, says not genuine
LONDON (AFP) — Popular Internet site Facebook on Thursday said two purported profiles of slain Pakistan politician Benazir Bhutto's son Bilawal were not authentic, and that the company had taken them down.
Two officials from Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, which the 19-year-old Bilawal took over on Sunday three days after his mother's assassination, said the profiles were a hoax.
Facebook, a social networking site that claims worldwide membership, did not specify how it had determined the profiles were bogus but said a "range of criteria" are used in making such decisions.
"Facebook has disabled two profiles purporting to be Bilawal Bhutto after an investigation found they were not authentic and violated the site's Terms of Use," the company said in a statement.
"Facebook examines a range of criteria to determine whether a profile is authentic, including reports from users, profile content, the e-mail associated with an account, length of time the account has been open and network affiliations," it said.
The profiles purported to carry personal statements from Bilawal Bhutto, an Oxford undergraduate.
"It is not his posting, it is not by him, it is someone else who has done it," said Sherry Rehman, the top spokesperson for Bhutto's party. "It is a hoax."
Qaim Ali Shah, a member of the party's central executive committee, said: "This page is fake."
