Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to block all the pages containing blasphemous contents on social media. The court also directed the secretary interior to forward all alleged blasphemous contents on social media to the prime minister for his perusal as the court can summon him too, if required.
IHC Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui while hearing the petition seeking blockade of websites and web pages containing the blasphemous material directed the secretary information technology (IT) to call upon a meeting where high officials of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and Transworld Associates, a member from private sector, IT professional Khawaja Saad Saleem, and Advocate Iftikhar Ahmed Bashir, being legal expert, may be invited for working out a strategy.
He also directed the secretary Interior to take help from Intelligence agencies since the matter is sensitive which can disrupt the peace in the country. However, the secretary Interior informed the court that interior minister has been briefed regarding the proceedings on Wednesday. He said at least 2-3 weeks are needed to block the entire content.
The secretary interior informed the court that he would personally supervise the entire process, including action against the culprits, blocking of blasphemous pages and measures to be adopted to stop the slanderous campaign permanently. In addition, the court was told that 6 pages have already been blocked and an FIR has been registered against unidentified persons involved in spreading blasphemous contents on social media. He further said that police and FIA will collectively probe the case. He informed the court that there is a significant development with respect to placing the names of bloggers on the Exit Control List (ECL) who allegedly uploaded alleged blasphemous contents on social media, and the process is under way. He said FIA has also contacted Facebook authorities to get the record of pages containing blasphemous contents, as the secretary interior has assigned a special task to FIA cyber crime wing to investigate the matter.The court adjourned the hearing of the case till March 13.
Earlier, petitioner Salman Shahid through his counsel Tariq Asad had approached the IHC.