ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday underscored the need for putting in place a robust mechanism to effectively check misuse of social media in spreading fake news, violence and hate content.
The prime minister stated this while talking to Facebook Singapore’s Vice President of Public Policy Simon Milner, who called on him at the PM Office. Special Assistants to the Prime Minister Sayed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari, Iftikhar Durrani and senior officials were present during the meeting.
The prime minister said that Facebook, with its large number of subscribers, could play a significant role in checking negative attempts that threaten the society and its social values. Simon Milner briefed the prime minister about various initiatives being taken by Facebook to create online communities, reaching out to remote communities, facilitating access to health services, garnering community responses towards disaster management and checking the misuse of social media.
The prime minister appreciated Facebook’s existing global outreach and efforts for building online communities towards promoting social connectivity among the people and communities across the world. He also acknowledged the role of Facebook and social media towards raising awareness among the public on critical issues. He further observed that there existed a huge potential for the organisation for developing online communities within Pakistan in the field of social services, especially in the promotion of community health services and raising health awareness campaigns in remote areas of the country.