Responsible regulation

Social media, for all its benefits, is also a Wild West frontier where anonymity brings out the worst in people. Campaigns are run shaming women and maligning people without cause. Bullying, slander, harassment, threats and the spread of hatred are all part of its flaws. Undoubtedly, there needs to be some level of regulation to ensure that people do not get away with behaviour online that would never be permitted in the real world. Some of these concerns were addressed by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar in his press conference on Tuesday about the recent actions taken by the FIA against social media users. But our rulers’ priority does not seem to be the ordinary person whose name is dragged through the muck and mire of social media. The state seems to be reacting to perceived attacks on itself and the ruling elite. It is good that the government has finally woken up to the dangers of social media – where everyone from journalists to the judiciary has been the target of attacks online. But, while the interior minister may be quite correct when he says the lack of restraint on social media is an issue which has to be in some way curtailed, the manner in which the government has gone about its attack on what it deems offensive posts is inappropriate and dangerous. Vague terms like ‘defaming the military’ or ‘blasphemy’ simply obscure genuine issues and are largely intended to create panic in our ‘national security’ dominated state. The wanton use of the blasphemy card in today’s social atmosphere means there is always a danger that such accusations could lead to vigilante violence.

The solution is to implement the law rather than twist it to pick up anyone seen as ‘anti-state’. It is important to remember that the persons questioned recently by the FIA, strangely through its Counter Terrorism Department rather than the wing for cybercrimes, have not been charged under any law of the land. Indeed, no specific law exists to deal with the voicing of certain opinions over the internet or the ‘crimes’ identified by the interior ministry. The use of a specific law is important because this immediately ties the process into the legal procedure laid down in the country, with the provision that the accused must be produced before a court of law within a specific period of time. The failure to bring either the persons picked up now and questioned or the bloggers who vanished earlier this year before a court means the state is operating outside any framework. There needs to be a bright red line drawn between enforcing the law and using law enforcement for harassment. It is also important to remember that the crime of tarnishing an individual or even an institution has occurred over the electronic media as well. Slander and libel are both recognised crimes and laws that can be used to penalise persons who engage in such acts are already on the books and should apply to all forums, not just social media.

Over the years, many individuals and some institutions have been viciously attacked on Facebook and Twitter, other media, and even TV channels. Action has not been taken except when the government or state chooses to protect those who wield power or are in some ways close to the source of this power. If a person’s social media activity is potentially criminal, then the government needs to charge them with a specific offence. Simply being critical of institutions is not a crime; rather it is the right of every citizen. Yes, we need to curb the misuse of social media. But this misuse is not limited to the expression of opinions that some declare objectionable. Its most dangerous misuse is when it attempts to incite violence against particular groups, build extremist ideas or even advocate the killing of specific individuals. We need clear-cut laws to identify how such misuse is to be pinpointed and what actions are to be taken. Acting in an arbitrary fashion by picking up and questioning people amounts to deliberately creating fear and a sense of harassment in a nation where these are already far too widespread.