Govt urges crackdown on 'digital terrorism'
Addressing a joint press conference in Islamabad with Minister of State for Law Barrister Aqeel Malik, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry emphasised that the removal of terrorist contents from social media did not intended to silence freedom of expression, but to build a wall against the menace.
"I want to request social media operators and platforms to cooperate with us on the blockade and removal of accounts, taking measures to stop mirror accounts and to share information of account holders who are operating these accounts," Chaudhry said.
Earlier this week, Chaudhry had highlighted how a terrorist group was using WhatsApp channels to "disseminate hateful content and harmful narratives".
He told the joint presser that 2,417 complaints related to terrorism on social media were under consideration by the relevant authorities.
"Pakistan is a bulwark against terrorism. We have detected hundreds of social media accounts linked to terrorism. Outfits like TTP, IS-K, BLA and BLF are spreading propaganda and recruiting youth through the social media," he said.
On the occasion, Barrister Aqeel said that terrorism and propaganda were punishable offenses under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca). "Pakistan has demanded closure of terrorist accounts, automatic blocking, and access to data from social media platforms," he said.
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