ISLAMABAD: Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) Chairman Dr Qibla Ayaz on Tuesday called for raising public awareness to discourage uploading of harmful content on social media and highlighted related laws and regulations to guide the future young generation in this regard.
Speaking to the PTV, he urged the electronic media to broadcast programmes about the Holy Prophet’s (Peace Be Upon Him) life to counter the disrespect on certain media platforms.
He urged social media users to report such content to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony or the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for timely action.
He said regulating harmful online content needs to draw a line between legitimate freedom of speech and hate speech. He noted that legal responsibility needs to be applied on digital platforms about incitement to violence and the dissemination of illegal content.”
Replying to a question, he said “immoral and obscene content” would be a punishable offence under the new rules.”
He said social media companies and service providers must devise community guidelines to inform users about uploading content. He said the government has already initiated a strict crackdown on culprits involved in such activities.
