Bolo Bhi files plea: Websites’ censor body challenged
Facebook report reveals that 1,773 pieces of content were restricted in compliance with Pakistan government requests
ISLAMABAD:
A rights organisation, Bolo Bhi, has filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court challenging the legality of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Evaluation of Websites (IMCEW), with the aim of having it declared unconstitutional. Challenging the internet censor body, Bolo Bhi says in its plea that constituted through an executive order in 2006, the IMCEW, since then, has been issuing orders for content takedown. The workings of the committee have been non-transparent and dubious with no public record of its members, meetings or directives. The IMCEW is prone to political pressure. A Facebook report reveals that 1,773 pieces of content were restricted in compliance with Pakistan government requests, not only on grounds of blasphemy but also “criticism of the state,” Bolo Bhi said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 15th, 2014.
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