Silencing Kashmiri, Pakistani voices: Parliamentary body grills Twitter’s regional head

ISLAMABAD: The Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir on Tuesday grilled the regional head of social media platform, Twitter, for silencing voices of thousands of Kashmiri and Pakistani activists projecting the plight of people of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

In a special hearing held here, the committee chairman Shehryar Afridi came down hard on George Salama, the head of Twitter’s regional office in the United Arab Emirates.

Afridi questioned George about the Twitter policy on human rights and freedom of speech, and whether Twitter regulations did not conform to the UN charter on freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

George, who attended the meeting through Zoom, said Twitter has a specific policy and discourages hate speech and upholds freedom of expression. He said Twitter authorities would ensure freedom of speech to all, and voices of minorities would never be silenced.

Responding to a question by Afridi about misuse of Twitter regulations by Indian activists, as exposed by the EU DisinfoLab, George said Twitter management always ensures freedom of speech on social media. He said Kashmiri activists are free to raise their voice with legitimate accounts.

He offered to organise workshops in Pakistan along with the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) for awareness of Pakistani and Kashmiri social media activists on Twitter regulations. Afridi said when he was state minister for interior two years ago, Indian social media activists impersonating as Pakistanis were generating 80 tweets per minute from Indian cities to incite violence in Pakistan over the blasphemy issue.

He said Twitter unfortunately had double standards as no action was taken against Indian agents posting tweets aimed at inciting hate and violence in Pakistan. He said over eight million people of the IIOJK are being silenced under influence of Indian employees of Twitter.

George said Twitter has zero tolerance against hate speech and violence, adding, Twitter discourages posting misleading content through fake accounts once reported. He said overlapping and duplicate contents are also discouraged by the Twitter management.

Afridi raised the issue of misusing UAPA black law by Indian occupational authorities and silencing of voices of Kashmiris. Responding to Afridi, the Twitter representative said Twitter position would remain equal for all parties of the conflict zone.

“We are working closely with PTA to ensure equal opportunities to social media users,” George said.

Afridi urged the committee members to come forward and show interest to head various advisory boards, so as subcommittees could be formed. Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif was nominated as convener of the subcommittee on Advisory Board on Lawfare for Kashmir.

Chairman PTA Maj-Gen Amir Azeem Bajwa (retd) said the PTA raised the suspension of accounts of Pakistani users under influence of a certain country and Twitter management responded that users are free to accept or deny Twitter rules.

The committee chairman expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of the Pemra regarding highlighting Kashmir cause at private TV channels. Pakistan Television representative briefed the committee on the projection of Kashmir dispute on state television.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021