Council to review online complaints, assures AG

ISLAMABAD: Attorney General Khaled Jawed Khan has agreed to the proposal of the formation of a council to review “unwanted” social media content, as currently there is no proper forum to examine social media feeds, the stakeholders claimed.

Khan gave his consent while presiding over a meeting with the stakeholders and petitioners, who had challenged the social media rules in Islamabad High Court (IHC), before assuring them that he would speak to Prime Minister Imran Khan and expressed the hope that the rules might be amended in the light of their suggestions.

Among other suggestions, the stakeholders and the petitioners had proposed the formation of a council comprising representatives of journalists, civil society and digital rights activists to solve social media-related complaints, on the patern of Press Council of Pakistan that redresses complaints against print media content and Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) Council of Complaints that handles the complaints against electronic media content.

The attorney general had recently assured the IHC during a hearing of challenges to the ‘Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content (Procedure, Oversight and Safeguards) Rules 2020’ that he would meet the stakeholders and the petitioners to review the social media rules.

According to the petitioners, the rules had given unfettered powers to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to act against the uploading of social media content. The rules were framed, the government claims, to enforce the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) against the ‘ unwanted’ social media feeds.

The petitioners - including Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) secretary general Nasir Zaidi, Awami Workers Party, Employees Union Dawn, journalist and anchorperson Amber Rahim Shamsi and a citizen Mohammad Ashfaq Jat - had argued that the rules were contrary to the freedom of expression guaranteed in the Constitution.

They were of the opinion that the rules would inevitably lead to violation of rights to livelihood and freedom of trade and profession, guaranteed to the citizens under Articles 9 and 18 of the Constitution.