ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Monday said that there was a need to have a centralised regulatory authority for all types of media, including print, electronic and digital. Briefing a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Information presided over by Senator Faisal Javed, the minister said that advancement of technology had led to converging of […]
Islamabad: Around 72 cent of women in the country have no awareness about the cyber crime laws dealing with online harassment on the internet. This estimate makes part of the preliminary findings of a study conducted by Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) shared at a seminar titled “Fostering Open Spaces in Pakistan-Combating Gender-Specific Threats to Women’s […]
KARACHI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is claimed to have put in place a monitoring system following the government directives about a crackdown against those spreading extremism and hatred on social media and said it would not wait for any complaint to take action against any individual or group as legally it can take cognizance […]
Who would not want to ban ‘hate speech’, right? After all, at some point most people have heard something that makes them want to see gags placed on offensive speech. But bear with me for the length of this piece — for by the end of it, I hope to make you slightly more reluctant […]
“Regulation by social media companies is an added layer of censorship” Night Dad — Executive Director, Digital Rights Foundation Social media regulation of human rights defenders is on the rise in Pakistan but what’s more surprising is that social media companies are censoring content without any proper explanation. As someone who has worked on the […]
The recent protests by doctors in Sindh were aimed at modification in the current pay structure to match the long and stressful working hours. The media has highlighted this issue in the following words: “Patients across Sindh suffer while the messiah (doctors) go on strike again.” The first impression left by such media statements is […]
LAHORE: Speakers at a summit on cybersecurity Friday said that internet is a popular part of daily life and an amazing resource of information, connectivity and entertainment, but at the same time it is also a breeding ground for criminal and terrorist activities where one’s every move can be monitored and information compromised. The summit […]
PESHAWAR: Speakers at a training workshop asked the users of social media to follow ethics and use the fast emerging medium for the benefits of the people. The three-day training workshop titled “Digital Citizen Journalism” was organised by Individualland (IL) at a local hotel here on Thursday. Mashhud Ali and Saifullah Khokar acted as resource […]
Globalisation had turned the world into a village, but without disrupting the physical borders of nation states. However, what is happening now, as the world is on the threshold of cyberspace, is something that is likely to greatly dilute the physical borders separating nations in economic terms without perhaps lessening the socio-cultural differences in terms […]
Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has a way of making provocative pronouncements, but his latest remarks seem to have caused unwarranted concern among the rights activists. Speaking on the serious issue of religious extremism and counter-narrative at the Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Studies, he announced that a crackdown would be launched in the next few […]
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has issued a notice to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in response to a petition filed by the left-wing Awami Workers Party (AWP) against the blocking of its official website. Chief Justice Athar Minallah admitted the petition for regular hearing following issuing arguments on its maintainability. The PTA has been […]
ISLAMABAD: The interior ministry has identified five organisations involved in running a social media campaign against the visit of a VVIP’s delegation to Pakistan. A communication has been sent by the ministry to all provincial chief secretaries, inspectors general of police, chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and director general of the Federal Investigation […]
When the fundamental rights to ‘liberty’ and ‘dignity’ guaranteed by Articles 9 and 14 of the constitution have limited real-life utility, the heavily conditioned Article 19 promising free speech is dead in the water. Why? Because we are a society where deference to authority is ingrained at every stage of one’s socialisation, where ‘freedom’ is […]
Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), in a letter to Rodrigo Duterte, President of Philippines has expressed concern over the cyber-libel charges against Maria Ressa, CEO and Executive Editor of Rappler and chairperson of the Indonesian Women’s Journalists Forum (FJPI). PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali has condemned the intimidation of journalists in Philippines and arrest of […]
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