Someone in Pakistan tried to get Zuckerberg sentenced to death, bringing a criminal proceeding over a Facebook picture of the prophet Muhammad.

Judge as of 2025-01-10. True: credible reporting or court records show that a person in Pakistan brought a legal proceeding (a complaint, petition, FIR or case) that sought, or could have led to, a death sentence for Zuckerberg (for example, a blasphemy case under a section that carries the death penalty), and that it concerned Facebook content depicting the prophet Muhammad. Mostly true: such a proceeding existed and exposed Zuckerberg to a possible death penalty, but a detail is off (for example, it concerned a Muhammad drawing contest or page rather than a single picture, or the exact procedural form differs). Mostly false: there was a Pakistani legal action over Facebook blasphemy content (such as a court order banning Facebook, or a case against the company in general) but it did not target Zuckerberg personally, or did not involve a death-eligible charge, so the claim overstates it. False: credible records show no Pakistani legal action of this kind connected to Zuckerberg.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Charlie Hebdo: Mark Zuckerberg pledges Facebook will protect free speech The Christian Science Monitor · 9 January 2015

   “In 2010, Pakistani lawyer Muhammad Azhar Siddique attempted to have Zuckerberg and other Facebook co-founders put to death for refusing to take down drawings of the prophet Muhammad that Facebook users posted to the site.”

2. E2 Pakistan: Mark Zuckerberg Must Die, Maybe Mother Jones · 23 June 2010

   “A flurry of Pakistani court rulings in May put Facebook under the microscope. That all came to a head in Punjab province, where authorities filed an application for a “First Information Report,” the initial step in a criminal investigation against Zuckerberg, two other Facebook employees, and “Andy.””

3. E3 Mark Zuckerberg faces the death penalty Marketplace · 18 June 2010

   “No, not for his privacy policies. Pakistan’s deputy attorney general is pursuing charges against the Facebook CEO because someone on Facebook organized a “Draw Muhammad” contest, in violation of Pakistan’s laws against insulting Muhammad.”

4. E4 Blasphemy: Arrest Mark Zuckerberg, Fleming Rose, says petitioner | The Express Tribune The Express Tribune · 26 February 2012

   “Despite this assurance, a case was registered under Section 295-A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PCC) which deals with blasphemy.”

Independent reporting says that in 2010 a Pakistani lawyer, Muhammad Azhar Siddique, tried to have Zuckerberg and other Facebook co-founders put to death because the site did not remove user-posted drawings of the prophet Muhammad (E1). Mother Jones reports that authorities in Punjab applied for a First Information Report, the first step in a criminal investigation, naming Zuckerberg (E2). Marketplace reports that Pakistan's deputy attorney general was pursuing charges against him over a "Draw Muhammad" contest on Facebook, under its laws against insulting Muhammad (E3). So a proceeding that exposed Zuckerberg to a possible death sentence did exist. The detail that is off is that it concerned a drawing contest and many drawings, not a single picture, which the criteria classify as mostly true.