Civil society groups on Friday expressed concern over the spate of attacks on journalists and ever-increasing restrictions on social media and urged the government to ensure freedom of expression – a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan. The Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) held a meeting on Friday at the […]
A PALL is descending on digital spaces, and threatening every citizen’s democratic right to free speech with real-life consequences. It comes as no reassurance, then, that while Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal insisted people would be allowed to air their political opinions on social media, he also announced that the FIA would spearhead the creation of […]
ISLAMABAD: Amid growing concerns over the alleged disappearanceof a number of social media activists linked to the ruling party, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday announced plans to formulate a framework to monitor social media in order to prevent it from being used as a tool to malign national institutions and spread anarchy or extremism in […]
DISTURBING though it may be, it is hardly surprising that internet access in Pakistan is being selectively filtered — ‘censored’ is perhaps the more accurate word here. A research report released last week regarding random tests that involved 22 internet service providers in the country bore witness to the fact that at least 210 URLs […]
RAWALPINDI: The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) cybercrime wing arrested on Friday two men suspected of posting on social media material and content deemed to be contemptuous of major state organs. The arrests were made during raids on the residences of Anwar Aadil in Railway Carriage Factory Colony and Wajid Rasul Malik in Al-Noor Colony in […]
KARACHI: The number of requests made by Pakistani authorities to Twitter for removal of accounts and information has doubled since last year, according to a bi-annual transparency report of the social networking website. Between January and June 30, the government asked Twitter to remove 24 accounts, and over 80 accounts were reported, with zero compliance. […]
ISLAMABAD: Advocating the right to freedom of speech through digital mediums, Bolo Bhi – a not-for-profit geared towards advocacy, policy and research in the areas of gender rights, government transparency, Internet access, digital security and privacy – has called on the government of Pakistan, and especially institutions responsible for governance of the Federally Administered Tribal […]