The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday directed the National Assembly speaker to form a committee to review the social media rules prepared by the previous government.
Hearing a petition challenging the social media rules prepared by the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked: “The government has now changed and those who were in the opposition previously and were opposed to these rules, are now in power.”
“Will it not be better for the government to consult with the stakeholders and settle the issue?” he inquired, adding that this court would always prefer the correction of laws to be done by those who are in government.
He stated: “The court has daily been observing what is constantly being done to freedom of expression here [in this country]. The rules must clarify everything without leaving anything open-ended so that they may not be misused tomorrow.”
The CJ further directed the government to correct the rules as they had been saying when they were in the opposition.
The court said that the parliament should look into the matter, and that it will look at the report once it comes.
