Social media ban for govt officials challenged in IHC

ISLAMABAD: A petition has been filed in the Islamabad High Court against an interior ministry notification banning social media accounts belonging to senior capital administration officials.

The petition was filed by a citizen, Mohammad Awais, on Tuesday. It asked for the notification, which was sent to the heads of the ministry’s 22 subordinate organizations across the country, to be set aside.

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Just hours after the petition was filed and news of it was aired on electronic media, the Islamabad deputy commissioner stated on his official Twitter account that he had been “directed to resume online interaction with the citizens of Islamabad to facilitate complaint redressal, disseminate information, raise awareness and solicit feedback from public to improve governance.”

AoA everyone. I have been directed to resume online interaction with the citizens of Islamabad to facilitate complaint redressal, disseminate information, raise awareness & solicit feedback from public to improve governance ✅????????????????????

— Office of Deputy Commissioner Islamabad (@dcislamabad) December 24, 2019

The petition cited the ministries of interior and law and justice, as well as the interior secretary, as respondents.

The petition said that the deputy commissioner’s Twitter account was helping the public by immediately taking action on complaints shared on Twitter by local residents.

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It said that government officials around the world use social media to interact with the public directly and Pakistan is no exception. The petition said that Prime Minister Imran Khan, the prime minister of India, the Inter-Services Public Relations director general and authorities in the United States and Russia use social media to keep people up to date with the development.