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ISLAMABAD: Office of the Attorney-General for Pakistan has said the federal government formed a committee to review social media regulations it had introduced in 2020.
The AGP office said in a statement that Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari would be the committee’s chairperson, with MNA Barrister Maleeka Bokhari, Senator Barrister Ali Zafar, secretary IT, and chairman of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority as its members.
The committee would furnish its recommendations to Prime Minister Imran Khan within a month’s time — after consultations with the petitioner, Usama Khawar — who filed the case in the IHC — and relevant stakeholders, read the statement.
The development comes after the federal authorities in January 2021 informed the Islamabad High Court that it would review the regulations in an ongoing case challenging their formation.
During the IHC hearing, Justice Athar Minallah observed that Article 19 and 19-A of the Constitution are related to fundamental rights and that “it seems that the stakeholders were not consulted in formulating social media rules”.
However, petitioner Khawar interjected and told the court that they were invited earlier for consultations, but none of their recommendations was taken into account.
The IHC had ordered PTA to issue the new rules within 90 days on November 2, 2020. The government notified the rules on November 18, with stakeholders saying they were completely bypassed as they were being finalized by the authorities.
Earlier, the incumbent government formulated a new social media policy in which social media companies will have to establish offices and database servers in Pakistan and social media companies will be required to submit information such as subscriber information, traffic data, and content data to a designated investigation agency when sought.
The approved rules have sparked anger and condemnation from stakeholders, including internet service providers as well as digital rights activists, who have termed them as draconian and a violation of cyber laws of the country.
