ISLAMABAD, February 12: The federal cabinet on Wednesday approved a new set of rules and regulations through which social media platforms will be required to register and open offices in Pakistan, as proponents of internet freedoms worry that the legal document will be used to keep social media companies in check.
Sources said the rules and regulations have been included in the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 and that senior officials in the Ministry of Information Technology confirmed that the cabinet has given the green light to the legal document.
IT ministry’s secretary Shoaib Siddiqui confirmed to Geo News that the federal cabinet had amended the rules and regulations after which the law does not require to be presented before the parliament for approval.
According to the law, all global social media platforms and companies will have to register in Pakistan within three months and open offices in Islamabad within three the same timeframe.
The document requires the companies and platforms providing social media services to appoint a representative in Pakistan who will deal with a National Coordination Authority. The authority will be responsible for regulating social media companies.
It requires social media companies to make data servers in Pakistan within one year and ensure that those accounts that target state institutions, spread fake news, hate speech, are guilty of harassment or issue statements that harm national security, are shut down.
Sources said authorities will take action against those found guilty of targeting state institutions within Pakistan and abroad.
It will be the authority’s prerogative to identify objectionable content to the social media platforms for them to take down. In case the companies fail to act on the directives, the authority will have the power to suspend their services or impose a Rs500 million fine.-Agencies
