The Government of Pakistan has issued new rules regarding social media following amendments to the Citizen Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020 issued earlier this year.
The federal government amended the Citizen Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020 and issued new regulations after criticism from more than 100 organizations, human rights organizations and individuals.
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The federal government has named the new rules Removal and Blocking in Full Online Content (Monitoring and Protecting Procedures) 2020.
According to a notification issued on October 16 by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MOITT), the new laws were enacted under Section 37 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.
According to the notification, the new laws will come into force immediately and the government has taken steps to implement them.
According to the regulations issued by the government, the 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material on social media sites will be prohibited, while content such as copying the personality of any person will not be published or broadcast.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.
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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.
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.
The laws make it clear that no terrorist material will be shown live, and that no pornographic material will be broadcast live.
Earlier, in February this year, the government of Pakistan had introduced the Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020, which were strongly criticized by domestic and foreign internet rights organizations.
Following criticism from domestic and foreign institutions and key figures, the government withdrew the laws and announced new regulations in consultation with stakeholders.
The government suspended Citizen Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020 in March and began consulting with stakeholders on new laws.
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The Citizen Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020 stated that social media companies would be required to provide any information or data requested by an investigating agency and in case of non-provision of any information, they would be charged Rs. 50 crore will be fined.
Under these rules and regulations, if a social media platform identifies ‘illegal content’ in writing or electronically, they will be required to remove it within 24 hours and 6 hours in case of emergency.