Crackdown on fake armed forces social media accounts

ISLAMABAD: A list of over 250 fraudulent social media accounts using the names of Pakistan’s armed forces has been forwarded to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) by Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) Director-General (DG) Major Asif Ghafoor for the purpose of a crackdown on such accounts, says a press release.

The FIA has, in turn, notified the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) regarding the accounts which are on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. The accounts are portraying themselves as personnel of the armed forces and are using the names of the Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy.

These accounts are being operated by unauthorised individuals as they assumed the role of speaking on behalf of the armed forces and they have been gaining attention on social media, giving a misleading impression that statements posted from these accounts are official statements by the armed forces of Pakistan.