From its earliest days, the internet was conceived as an open, anarchic space where no government could censor content or spy on traffic. That was then: now welcome to the world of cyber-espionage. States have been acutely conscious of the vast flow of possibly subversive messages in the form of emails, tweets and Facebook comments […]
Social media has taken over our lives, changing the way of communication for all. Digital space is changing with a blink of an eye giving brands a new medium to advertise and interact with their potential consumers. Not a single day goes by when one doesn’t check his Facebook; approximately one million Pakistanis have joined […]
Facebook’s approach to our personal information couldn’t be more at odds with Mark Zuckerberg’s newly acquired company, WhatsApp. While Facebook wants to catalogue as much data on its users as it can, WhatsApp wants to know the bare minimum. The new owner of WhatsApp has promised to keep it that way. In an interview at […]
LAHORE: “My Facebook account has been hacked. The hacker has posted objectionable material on it causing a lot of stress to me, my family members and friends,” says a complainant, a woman. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has no remedy to redress the complaint in the absence of a law to check cyber crime, including […]
By Muhammad Usama Ibrahim KARACHI: Websites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace can be enjoyable when used moderately. The problem is that they are frequently overused and often misused. With a few clicks, anyone on these websites can access anything we post or upload, including a prospective employer. Company managers often use Facebook as a […]
THINK politicking, Pakistan-style, and most people would think: loud — and long drawn-out. It’s traditionally been about people travelling long distances, a canopied platform faced with serried ranks of chairs, blood-stirring speeches and thundering denunciations. Few would have thought that a time might come when a politician desirous of speaking up might choose to not […]
KARACHI: Fine Arts Pakistan (FAP) gallery has launched its website for art lovers who can now visit and buy different paintings online. The FAP has provided international recognition to local artists through their website www.fineartpakistan.com integrated with Facebook. Asma Ahmed, the curator of the gallery, explained that this was a unique and first of its […]
KARACHI: Nizam, a Pakistani resident in the UAE, recently cancelled his 10-year-old subscription of the Gulf News. Saad Suliman, too, unsubscribed to the newspaper as well as the daily email alerts, and deleted the Gulf News smartphone application. Similarly, many Pakistanis in the UAE are following suit and are actively participating in a social-media campaign […]
Sir: Do you constantly check your mobile phone for e-mail alerts, Facebook notifications, tweets, news updates and the weather report? This is not our fault; it is not a disease that can be cured — it is an addiction. Smart phone addiction is viral; we are forced to look at the 4.7 inch screen of […]
KARACHI: Social media has become a popular tool to incite hatred against minorities which is why there should be a code of conduct to monitor hate speech. These views were put forward by the participants at a meeting of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s (HRCP) Expert Group on Communities Vulnerable because of their Beliefs […]
Facebook Inc has replaced its “Hide All” button with the more succinct “Unfollow,” letting users block all messages and posts from selected friends. As with the previous button, it gives users the option of blocking content from certain people without offending them, say through de-friending. The latter alternative severs ties with that person on the […]
Staying in touch with each other has become important to the new generation. In the previous era people waited for letters for months but now the world has shrunk. Facebook, Twitter, Viber, Watapps and other social media tools have brought our loved ones closer. Use of cell phones and Internet has increased tremendously. Everybody seems […]
THE chief minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, recently urged policemen to utilise social networking sites to reach out to the public during emergencies. We have commonly seen that in developing societies the institution of the police lacks the initiative to make optimum use of technology and social media. Extremist groups fight simultaneously at the physical level […]
RAWALPINDI: Many citizens think that denial of live coverage by the electronic media of Friday’s sectarian mayhem in the city saved the people from the worse. But, no denying, there were efforts to add fuel to the fire. Technology savvy religious zealots took to social networking websites to spread sectarian hatred, especially the Facebook and […]
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