Govt forms committee on social media rules

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has constituted a five-member committee for social media rules namely “Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content (Procedure, Oversight and Safeguards) Rules 2020.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has constituted the committee with Chairperson Dr Shireen Mazari, federal minister for Human Rights, and Maleeka Ali Bukhari, parliamentary secretary on Law and Justice, Senator Syed Ali Zafar, secretary, Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom as its members, said a press release issued by the Officer of the Attorney General for Pakistan on Tuesday.

The Information Technology and Telecom Division will function as the secretariat of the committee which will submit its report along with recommendations in the matter to the prime minister within a period of 30 days. The committee will commence its work and the secretariat would intimate public at large of the date and venue for consultations with all stakeholders including petitioners who had filed petitions in the Islamabad High Court.

The attorney general had held consultations with the petitioners who had filed petitions in the Islamabad High Court and some other parties who expressed interest in deliberations of social media rules. After consultations with the petitioners and others, the attorney general for Pakistan had recommended to the prime minister that broad-based consultations are required for framing of comprehensive rules for regulation of social media, which protect the fundamental rights of freedom of speech and right to information as envisaged under Articles 19 and 19-A of the Constitution of Pakistan while also ensuring that social media platforms are not abused and material is not disseminated in violation of laws.