PHOTO: FILE
The Senate Standing Committee on Interior in its meeting chaired by Senator Rehman Malik on Tuesday said the social media has become integral part in the entire world but no one would be allowed to do mudslinging through its misuse.
The meeting, held in the Parliament House, was briefed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on the action taken against spreading disinformation and derogatory remarks against state institutions, political parties, individuals and complaints received under Cybercrime Act.
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The Senate panel chairman said the social media is the need of the era and the no one is in favour of baseless limitations or imposing ban on its use but the use has to be regulated in such a manner that it does not hurt others and does not do harm anyone’s respect in the society.
“Those who are spreading propaganda against the state and are using the platform to harm their opponents should be taken to task,” he said. Malik directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to coordinate efforts for curbing disinformation and derogatory remarks on social media.
“A focal person at least of the rank of an assistant director should be deputed by the FIA Cybercrime Wing at the PTA monitoring cell and a focal person from the PTA monitoring cell should be deputed in the FIA Cybercrime Wing for better coordination against cybercrimes,” he urged.
He also directed that an advertisement should be telecasted on all TV channels that any offence under Cybercrime Act is punishable so avoid spreading hate and abusive materials on social media.
The committee appealed to the citizens of Pakistan that they should report any disinformation, derogatory remarks, humiliation and blasphemous materials on social media to the PTA.
It also directed the ambassador of Pakistan to the UAE to collect information about mechanism adopted by the UAE for social media regulation and share the said information with the PTA for effective social media regulation.
It also directed that the PTA should move all the cases in which social media operators are not cooperating with the FIA and the FIA will move the case further as per law. The panel directed the FIA and PTA to hold a joint meeting to discuss and solve the legal matters for better cooperation.
The FIA Cybercrime Wing chief told the panel that name of the person who uploaded picture of a grave as election symbol of a candidate on Twitter is identified as Zia-Ur-Rehman and the FIA has written a letter to the Twitter for provision of details of the IP address so that FIA could arrest the culprit.
Malik asked if the FIA is capable to detect account information and advised the authority to ask the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) for a photo match. He said the PTA on its own expenses should advertise picture of the person involved in it.
“The PTA should also announce bounty for recognising the picture and the authority would by this way learn about the whereabouts of the person. The PTA as authority has got the power and I want to see this person handcuffed and behind the bars,” Malik said.
The director also told the committee that the FIA has also written to The Express Tribune for the information about the pictures of animal which were used to humiliate a political leader but so far the FIA has received no reply.
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Senator Kalsoom Parveen said the painful July 13 incident of Mastung in which more than 150 innocent people were martyred in a blast was totally ignored by the media that was covering arrival of former premier Nawaz Sharrif. She said no incident can be more important than the tragedy of Mastung.
Malik asked the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority chairman to take notice of it and seek explanation from all private media channels as why this national tragedy was absolutely blacked out.
The chairman, expressing grave concerns over the alleged propaganda by a newspaper against Senator Talha Mahmood, directed the FIA to complete the inquiry as soon as possible. He ordered that persons involved must be traced and action be initiated against them as per law.
Discussing death of three girls in Cholistan Desert of Fort Abbas, Senator Malik directed the Ministry of Law and Justice to provide legal assistance as to whether the dead bodies be exhumed or a joint investigation team be formed to solve the mystery of the case.
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