KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has ordered the federal government, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to inform it of the progress made in removing online defamatory content against actresses Mehwish Hayat and Kubra Khan.
The actresses had moved the court against a slanderous social media campaign motivated by insinuations made by a military critic who apparently accused actors Sajal Ali, Khan, and Hayat of being used as “honey traps” by the top brass of the Pakistan Army.
Adil Raja earlier this month claimed in a YouTube video that some of the nation’s female actors were used by the military to trap politicians. He didn’t name any actors but he ended up revealing the actors’ initials.
Soon after the video went viral, social media users were quick to make assumptions that the actors in question are Ali, Khan, and Hayat.
During the hearing on Thursday, the court inquired about the progress made in removing the said content. Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto asked: “The court had issued directives for the removal of content, has [the content] been removed?”
The federal government, FIA, and PTA officials submitted their replies to the pleas. The government’s lawyer maintained that Hayat’s statement has been recorded while Khan’s statement has yet to be recorded.
The FIA cybercrime wing’s investigation officer informed the court that the PTA had been asked to remove the content, which will be done soon. He added that the FIA had launched investigations after issuing complaint numbers.
PTA, in its response, said the content that the authority could remove on its own had been removed, while authorities concerned had been requested for the removal of content which was uploaded from foreign territories.
The court subsequently sought progress reports from the authorities and adjourned the hearing until February 24.
