Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has revealed that he received a death threat from a Pakistani extremist in 2010.

Reacting to the tragedies in Paris this week in which two terror suspects killed twelve people in an attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine, Zuckerberg recounted the incident on his own Facebook page.

He wrote: "A few years ago, an extremist in Pakistan fought to have me sentenced to death because Facebook refused to ban content about Mohammed that offended him.

"We stood up for this because different voices -- even if they're sometimes offensive -- can make the world a better and more interesting place," explained Zuckerberg.

"Facebook has always been a place where people across the world share their views and ideas. We follow the laws in each country, but we never let one country or group of people dictate what people can share across the world."

The death threat came after the social media site promoted an 'Everybody Draw Mohammed Day' which took place on May 20 of that year. The act was deemed illegal under Pakistani law, where it is a crime to defile the "sacred name of Mohammed" and Facebook was blocked in Pakistan.

Photo: Getty Images

The idea for the day came after Comedy Central decided to censor a negative rendering of the prophet on their show South Park.

Zuckerberg ends his statement by offering his condolences to those who lost their lives in Paris, writing: "My thoughts are with the victims, their families, the people of France and the people all over the world who choose to share their views and ideas, even when that takes courage. ‪#‎JeSuisCharlie."

Many Muslims have challenged Zuckerberg for his comments. Aftab Ahmed wrote in response: "What about all those people in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria died Never seen you condemned about those barbaric acts talk about standing for right Mr Zuckerberg. (sic)

"Yet you ban countless pages for posting "offensive" things so how can you say that you refuse to let one group silence everyone when Facebook bans pages for posting humor?"

'Freedom of speech and hate speech is not the same.. Go educate yourself please..."

Meanwhile, Muslim religious leaders around the world have condemned the atrocities committed in Paris this week, describing the massacre as "an attack against humanity."