Reportedly PTA asked the government to increase its technical abilities or block social media websites in Pakistan in order to curb circulation of blasphemous content.
“[Dealing with] blasphemous content on social media is a huge problem. Most of the websites are being operated from other countries.”
Said PTA Chairman Major General (r) Amir Azeem Bajwa, while briefing the Senate Special Committee to examine purported grievances.
He continued:
“The government should either formulate a policy and block social media websites in the country like China and the United Arab Emirates — [which would mean] developing social media platforms locally like China — or it should increase the technical capabilities of the PTA,”
- PTA has blocked more than 39,000 URLs since 2010
- PTA had received 8,500 complaints regarding blasphemous content on the internet
- PTA also blocked about 850,000 websites that had pornographic content
However, after this news about PTA spread all over the internet, PTA broke silence and finally gave their official statement through a tweet:
The media reports of #PTA recommending blocking of social media websites are entirely false.
— PTA Pakistan (@PTAofficialpk) July 26, 2019
PTA further clarified:
Chairman PTA’s comments are being misquoted and taken out of context.
Read the full statement by PTA here:
Reference recent media reports regarding Chairman PTA's comments on blasphemous content on social media, it is clarified that Chairman PTA's comments are being misquoted and taken out of context.
For correct position on the issue, please see Senate Secretariat's press release pic.twitter.com/ESPUQzOjlG— PTA Pakistan (@PTAofficialpk) July 26, 2019
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