The Caretaker Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Murtaza Solangi, announced on Monday that more than 500 social media accounts involved in a defamatory campaign against the superior courts and their judges have been identified by state institutions. Speaking in Islamabad, the minister assured that those responsible for the malicious campaign against the Supreme Court judges would face legal consequences.
He highlighted the formation of a joint investigation team (JIT) to address the social media campaign initiated after the Supreme Court decided to strip the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of its cricket bat electoral symbol on January 13.
Solangi emphasized the importance of respecting the boundaries set by Article 19 of the Constitution regarding freedom of speech. Officials from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) were present during the minister’s announcement.
The PTA official explained their authority to remove content from social media and stressed the need for people to be aware of social media’s utility. The FIA Cybercrime Director Operations warned of action against those spreading anarchy through social media and stated that the FIA would take appropriate measures against accounts involved in the smear campaign, regardless of their location.
He emphasized the verification of news before forwarding it and mentioned that the FIA would submit a report to the JIT within the mandated two-week timeframe.