Science & Tech

Asian Internet Alliance objects to new social media laws in Pakistan

The Asian Internet Coalition (AIC), an alliance of internet companies and social media sites in Asia, has once again expressed concern over new social media laws issued by the Pakistani government.

A few days ago, the government of Pakistan had issued a notification on October 16 regarding the new social media laws after the amendments.

The government issued new rules following amendments to the Citizen Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020, issued earlier this year.

The federal government named the new rules Removal and Blocking in Full Online Content (Monitoring and Protecting Procedures) 2020.

Read More:The government issued new social media laws after the amendments

However, AIC, an alliance of Internet companies and social media websites in Asia, has now written a letter to the Pakistani government expressing its concerns over the new regulations.

According to a report in the Dawn newspaper, a statement issued by the Asian Internet Alliance called on the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications (MOITT) not to create obstacles in the way of the digital economy in the country.

The statement, issued by Managing Director (MD) Jeff Peane, referred to the government’s recent new Removal and Blocking Laws on Unlawful Online Content (Procedure Monitoring and Safety) 2020. Is.

The statement called on the government not to impede the development of the digital economy and to address the concerns of stakeholders by introducing new regulations to the public as soon as possible.

The Asian Internet Alliance has suggested to the government that it enact laws and regulations to boost the country’s digital economy.

The alliance includes Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Airbnb, Amazon, Apple, Xperia Group, Google, Line, Yahoo and other groups including Verizon Media Group.

The coalition had also objected to the regulations issued by the Pakistani government earlier in February this year.

A senior Information Technology Ministry official told Dawn following the Internet Alliance’s concerns that although the federal cabinet had approved the new regulations, they had not yet been formally enacted.

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He said the new regulations were drafted after allaying the concerns of other stakeholders, including the Asian Alliance.

It may be recalled that the notification issued by the Ministry of Information Technology on October 16 regarding the new regulations passed by the government stated that the new rules were passed under Section 37 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016. ۔

According to the new rules issued by the government, the publication and publication of all kinds of obscene and obscene material on social media sites will be banned, while the sharing of false information will also be banned.

According to the law, social media companies will be banned from removing any kind of material against the security, dignity and defense of Pakistan.

The rules state that the publication of any kind of anti-government material on social media sites will be prohibited, while content such as copying the personality of any person will not be published or broadcast.

According to the new rules, all kinds of material related to religious hatred and blasphemy, blasphemy will be banned, as well as material against the cultural and moral tendencies of Pakistan.

The new rules state that all forms of violence, terrorism and exploitation will be banned, and that material that affects children will not be allowed to be published or broadcast.

However, it is violent, obscene, immoral, anti-Pakistan and anti-government while there is no explanation as to how such material will be examined.

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The law stipulates that within three months of the regulations coming into force, other companies, including Facebook, Twitter, TickTalk and Google, will deploy their representatives in Pakistan, while they will be required to open local offices within the next nine months.

At the same time, social media companies have been instructed to set up data servers locally within 18 months of the enactment of the rules, as well as explain the rules of social media to users in simple language.

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