More important than “freedom of speech”, however, is the safety of the individual and country
KARACHI: Social media companies must be responsible for all content therein. They have paid lip service to all demands from the government to police the obscene and dangerous content posted on their systems, pleading “freedom of speech”.
More important than “freedom of speech”, however, is the safety of the individual and country, and if companies continue to ignore their responsibilities, then they should have their operations and transmissions blocked in the country.
Fines on companies will not work, since they are global and will hide behind foreign laws; shutting them down will soon be understood by the media providers, raising howls of protest from their users. This will get the attention of people who will then, in addition to the government, add pressure on the companies to put their houses in order. Strong clear-cut action is quickly needed to bring social media to heel and regulate itself in a proper manner. The populace must also be made to understand that they have a duty to act responsibly and can no longer broadcast their vile invective whilst hiding behind media providers. Internet firms have faced repeated accusations that they are failing to promptly address concerns over the material being published on their platforms with violent and extremist material often allowed to remain online despite warnings being sounded. They shall make sure that they deliver on their commitments to further develop technical tools to identify and remove terrorist propaganda and to help smaller companies to build their capabilities
A spokesman for the National Police Chiefs Council said: “Hate and extremist material online is a serious problem with potentially very dangerous consequences. This is an interesting idea. The detail would need to be considered but we are supportive of looking at a range of ways to speed up removing this content wherever it is being shared.”
Sana Ghouri
Published in The Express Tribune, July 3rd, 2017.
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