ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudry Nisar has suggested boycotting social media to counter blasphemous content online.
Speaking to the media at a press conference, the interior minister said that ridiculing any religion is not freedom of speech and that this is the worst kind of conspiracy. The minister has also said that he has asked the American embassy for help in tracking down and getting rid of pages that are hurting the sentiments of muslims.
Chaudry Nisar was of the view that Pakistan should represent the global Muslim community on the issue of blasphemous content posted on social media platforms and would fight with whatecer means were necessary.
“Such content has been posted on social media websites for years. I am surprised that no other Muslim country raised the issue till now,” Nisar said before adding “We will take any steps necessary to make sure that our message against such content gets across to those websites as well as the rest of the world,”.
“We cannot put a handle on things until Facebook and these other websites help us, but when it comes to uploading done from within Pakistan, we have nearly pinpointed from where it is happening through the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and other intelligence agencies.”
“Since this has become an international issue, I have also asked the FIA to find good legal counsel on the matter. They have been instructed to find a lawyer that understands international law and can advise us on these matters,” Nisar added.
“I have asked the Foreign Office to appoint a representative in the US to liaison with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and these social media websites on a daily basis,” he said.
“Facebook and other service providers should share all information about the people behind this blasphemous content with us.”
“We are working on both tracks to ensure that those who have committed these crimes do not get away scot-free while the innocent do not get sucked into the matter,” he added.
“I have already directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to send out notices and ask that this content is removed and that it does not reappear online again,” Nisar said.
“Apart from all these measures, I still warn that we will take the matter to whatever end is necessary if these platforms do not comply with our demands,” Nisar said, in an apparent reference to repeated appeals to block social media in Pakistan.
Nisar seemed to be voicing the official party and government line after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on March 14 that blasphemy is an ‘unpardonable offence’ and directed state machinery to find those responsible for putting blasphemous content on social media and bring them to justice without delay.
“The blasphemous content on social media is a nefarious conspiracy to hurt the religious sentiments of the entire Muslim ummah,” Nawaz was quoted as saying in a statement on PML-N’s official Twitter account.
Before this the National Assembly had passed a resolution condemning blasphemous content posted on social media and unanimously agreed to the formation of a committee of parliamentary leaders to tackle the issue.
Another giant step backward by intolerant religious fanatics…Next he will recommend banning all books because some of them have objectionable content?
Comments are closed.