It is an irony that Prime Minister Imran Khan, who attributed his party’s rise and success to social media, is now out to make social media platforms fall in line. After coming to power, the PTI continued to deploy its social media trolls to demonize major opposition leaders and mainstream media critics by spreading false news about them and taking recourse to foul language. However, as the opposition parties, particularly the PML(N), set up their own media teams which paid back the PTI in the same coin, there was talk in government circles about putting shackles on social media. As a number of independent vlogs gained popularity by criticizing government policies, the PTI decided to devise a mechanism to block this source of criticism and exposure. Last year the government introduced “Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content (Procedure, Oversight and Safeguards) Rules 2020,” which contained a set of draconian internet rules. These were duly rejected by stakeholders, including internet service providers, tech giants and digital rights activists, who termed them a violation of freedom of speech as well as the country’s cyber laws.
The government is now in a hurry. The new version of the social media rules has been prepared without consultation with the stakeholders. Once again Parliament has been bypassed. The new rules would add yet another layer to the government’s social media management. Both the social media companies and service providers would be required to deploy mechanisms to ensure immediate blocking of the live streaming of content falling in the categories of terrorism, hate speech, pornography, incitement to violence and matter detrimental to national security on receiving intimation from the PTA. Deciding whether any content is censorable has been left to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s judgment at a time when perceptions regarding what constitutes hate speech, pornography or a threat to national security, widely differ.
The PTA chairman hopes that social media giants would agree to conditions rather than withdraw from Pakistan because the country is among top 10 markets of the world. The social media giants however know that Pakistan cannot afford their departure as IT services they provide are not only indispensable for the country’s business, industry and education, but reliance on Twitter and other social media has become a compulsion for politicians.
