Action to be taken against SC judges trollers: Solangi

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi said Monday action would be taken against those involved in the recent malicious campaign against Supreme Court judges in accordance with the law and constitution.

Addressing a news conference along with Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials here, he said the Interior Ministry notified a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on January 16 to investigate into the matter.

The minister said the FIA, PTA and other relevant departments are continuing their investigation and several hundred social media accounts are being monitored. He warned the elements both within and outside the country to refrain from such activities.

In his remarks Director General PTA Ahmad Shamim Pirzada said that they had the authority to block and remove the (scandalous) content. Director Operations FIA Waqar Uddin Syed stated that they were fully alert and immediate action would be ensured against those involved in the malicious campaign against the state and its institutions.

He said, “We are in the process of identifying the social media accounts behind the recent campaign against the Supreme Court judges.” He said nobody would be allowed to undermine the confidence of the people in the state institutions

Meanwhile, the Cybercrime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has made headway to hundreds of social media activists and bloggers involved in trolling the apex court judges on the direction of a political party.

Director Cybercrime Wing Waqaruddin Syed disclosed that they had marked the gangsters involved in launching a poisonous campaign against the Supreme Court judges and were working round-the-clock to apprehend them.

Waqar said no anti-state activist would be allowed to create anarchy or malign the state and its institutions through a malicious campaign on the social media.

“The Cybercrime Wing has identified more than five hundred accounts and is monitoring many others,” he said. The mandate of the joint investigation team is to submit a report in two weeks and the Cybercrime Wing is working day and night to apprehend the culprits.

He said all police stations and reporting centers had been directed to take immediate notice and action against those using the social media applications and platforms as a weapon for maligning the state institutions.

He said cybercrimes had no boundaries and, therefore, it was difficult to say at this point whether those accounts were being operated or used within the country or outside the state. He, however, said they were working round-the-clock to identify the individuals and their locations for further action. He appealed the general public to avoid becoming a tool in the hands of such people.