The government on Friday urged social media companies to establish offices in Pakistan and remove terrorist accounts and content from their platforms, emphasizing the need to build a wall against the menace.
Addressing a joint press conference in Islamabad with Minister of State for Law Aqeel Malik, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said the government did not aim to silence freedom of expression, but required cooperation to tackle the threat of terrorism.
“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,” he said, noting 2,417 complaints related to terrorism on social media were under consideration by relevant authorities.
The minister urged social media firms to block terror groups; use artificial intelligence to prevent “mirror accounts”; and share information about their operators. He requested the creation of auto-detect and auto-block algorithms against such accounts.
“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 social media,” he said.
Malik noted that terrorism and propaganda are 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. “We will welcome social media platforms to set up offices in Pakistan for better coordination,” he said. “We seek coordination between social media platforms and our law enforcement agencies on social issues and the presence of terrorist organizations on social media,” he added.
Chaudhry said the National Action Plan required action against those spreading propaganda on media and social media.