Resolution for social media ban rattles HRCP

Commission calls on civil society, digital rights activists to mobilize against efforts to impose such curbs

LAHORE:

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has strongly opposed the proposed Senate resolution seeking a ban on all key social media platforms.

The rights body has warned the members of the upper house that such "ill-judged measures that violate people’s constitutional right to freedom of expression" also represent an erosion of democracy.

The HRCP said this in a statement on Sunday, a day after news outlets reported that the Senate is going to discuss today (Monday) a resolution moved by Senator Bahramand Khan Tangi of the PPP, calling for a complete ban on some social media sites—X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

The resolution stated that social media platforms are adversely affecting the young generation in the country as they are being used to promote norms that are against religion and culture. “[The platforms are also] creating hatred among the people on the grounds of language and religion,” it said.

The resolution also "noted with concern" the use of such platforms against the interest of the country for spreading negative and malicious propaganda against the armed forces of Pakistan.

Read also: PPP senator seeks ban on social platforms

“Such platforms are being used for vested interests for spreading fake news about various issues and to create and promote fake leadership in the country to hoodwink the young generation."

Taking exception to it, the HRCP stated that the resolution is as nonsensical as it is impractical.

“With social media platform X having been shut down since February 17, it is ironic to see that political parties, state institutions, government representatives, and legislators—including Senator Bahramand Tangi—continue to use X by means of virtual private networks (VPNs).”

It said access to social media has empowered ordinary citizens to exchange information, earn livelihoods, lobby for their rights and freedoms, hold duty bearers accountable, and mobilise around social and political causes.

“Any attempt to curb digital freedoms wholesale betrays a shocking ignorance of how modern democracies and economies function.”

Read: Social media platform X faces more disruptions in Pakistan

The HRCP lamented that successive governments have frequently and arbitrarily shut down social media for “security concerns” even before the 2024 elections, adding that there is no evidence to suggest that such a step has made society any safer.

“If indeed the Senate is concerned about the future of this country’s youth, its efforts would be better served tackling such issues as youth unemployment, access to education, and rampant misogyny rather than acting as an outmoded ‘thought-police’."

“Where social media is to be regulated to prevent hate speech and incitement to violence against women and religious, ethnic, and gender minorities, this must be narrowly tailored, enforced with transparency, and designed with civil society consensus.”

It stated that giving the state a free hand to regulate social media is futile because it has always perceived this responsibility as an opportunity to censor rivals and dissenters.

 “The HRCP calls on civil society and digital rights activists to mobilise against all efforts to impose such arbitrary curbs, including reports of a ban on all VPNs, and demands that X be restored immediately.”