ISLAMABAD, Jul 10 (APP): Minister for Information, Broadcasting, Culture and National Heritage Attaullah Tarar on Wednesday informed the Senate Standing Committee on Information that all the social media platforms are active in the country except “X” which was banned over the “compliance issues”.
The decision to this effect was taken by the caretaker government, said the minister while responding to such a query of Senator Barrister Ali Zafar who presided over the Senate Panel here.
He said the Ministry of Interior had submitted its reply to the Islamabad High Court regarding the ban on X formerly Twitter.
“The matter is with the court which will take an appropriate decision in this regard,” he hoped.
“There is no restriction on Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat and LinkedIn which are being used by the common man posting all kinds of content,” he noted.
The chairman committee underlined the need for ensuring provision of fundamental rights to all the citizens. “Freedom of expression is the basic right of every citizen as enshrined in the Constitution,” he added.
Senator Ali stressed on devising a mechanism in collaboration with the Information Ministry which would not only ensure dissemination of correct information to the people about the government departments but also help them get their issues resolved.
In the standing committee meeting, Senator Irfan Siddiqui said steps should be taken to discourage misuse of the freedom of expression as false and fabricated news were rife on the social media networking sites.
Senator Jam Muhammad called for a strategy to curb fake news, misinformation and disinformation in the country. The social media sites should be used to pursue the national interests, he added.
Senator Pervez Rasheed not only regretted propaganda on such sites but also condemned the derogatory language being used by some elements.
The minister called for taking an initiative to curb crimes being committed in the digital domain, regretting there was currently no mechanism to tackle the issue of deepfake.
He said the federal cabinet had taken up a proposal to establish a Digital Rights Protection Authority and formed a committee which was headed by Rana Sanaullah with the information and IT ministers its members.
At the outset of the panel’s proceeding, the minister congratulated Senator Ali Zafar on assuming the role of the committee’s chairmanship.
“We are the custodians of democratic traditions and will work with the Standing Committee of Information in close cooperation for further improvement of the media sector,” he said while lauding the role played by his party leadership in their political grooming.
He said particularly praised PML-N Qauid Nawaz Sharif who ended his election campaign and inquired after his political opponent when he got injured in the past.
“Political opponent does not mean an enemy,” the minister said, adding the PML-N leadership engaged its opponents for the country’s progress and prosperity.
In the politics, he passionately called for promoting the spirit and norm of sharing each other’s happiness and griefs.
He said important foreign policy decisions were taken by the Parliament which was led by Nawaz Sharif who held this institution in supreme regard. The credit for the enactment of the Access to Information Act went to Nawaz Sharif and the then Parliamentarians, he added.
The minister informed the committee that the government had cleared the media houses’ dues amounting to Rs 1.6 billion and now it was the responsibility of them to clear all the outstanding payments of the media workers and journalists.
Their salaries should be increased as the government had not imposed any tax on newspapers industry and media, he added.
The Pakistan Broadcasters Association had made sure payment of dues to the media workers and journalists, he said appreciating the Implementation Tribunal for Newspaper Employees (ITNE) for ensuring provision of dues to many of them.
No action had been taken to stop advertisements to the media channels, he informed the committee which was further told about the mechanism to determine advertising rates.
As regard the dummy newspapers, he told the committee that out of 2000 newspapers, only 200 were member of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS). The issue had been taken up with the APNS which needed to play its role in this regard, he added.
The panel sought a detailed report on the dummy newspapers issue in the next meeting.
Senator Irfan Siddiqui said that transparency should be brought in the “ABC system” to curb the dummy newspapers issue.
The committee was informed that the work on Pakistan-China Friendship Center was underway which would have a Center for Digital Communication.
In response to a query of Senator Pervez Rasheed, the minister said the ministry had a strict criterion for evaluating films.
“There is a need to promote entertainment in the country,” he said while stressing on taking the initiatives imperative for encouraging the film industry.
Under the Film Finance Fund established by the government, he said, prominent film producers were requested to float ideas for producing quality movies.
He said the local film industry should not be affected with the screening of the foreign films.
As regards the health insurance scheme for the journalists and media workers, he said the health insurance scheme for journalists and media workers was started during the government of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), he said, highlighting the initiatives taken by the incumbent government for reviving the scheme.
He said the federal government would fully cover the health insurance of journalists in Islamabad.
In the first phase, 5,000 journalists and media workers would get the insurance, he said, adding collectively 30,000 would benefit from the scheme in the entire country.
Federal Secretary for the Information and Broadcasting briefed the Standing Committee on its functions and responsibilities that included formulation of the policy on national issues particularly those related to the media.
Provision of facilities for development of print media industry, government advertisements, audit circulation of newspaper, projection and promotion of government affairs on digital media including external publicity and broadcasting were also included in the responsibilities of the ministry, the body was told.
The committee was informed that the ministry had administrative, internal and external wing, Center of Digital Communication along with Digital Media Wing.
The secretary informed the body that the departments under the ministry included Press Information Department, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, Central Board of Films Censor, Information Service Academy, ITNE, Pakistan Television, Associated Press of Pakistan and others.
As regards the External Publicity Wing of the ministry, the Standing Committee was told that there were 23 posts in 21 countries for promoting the country’s culture, tradition and heritage.
Chairman Committee Senator Syed Ali Zafar sought a detailed report on the last two years performance the External Publicity Wing.
The Standing Committee was informed that PTV is a national asset and steps were being taken for its boosting its revenue.
The information minister told the Standing Committee that the cricket broadcasting rights were obtained from International Cricket Council for the PTV sports that boosted its revenue significantly.
Senator Abdul Shakoor stressed the need to air the programme shows in accordance with the religious and social values.
The chairman committee sought a report on the rules proposed under the PEMRA amendment bill.
The chairman PEMRA said that the rules were made and sent to the Ministry of Law in this regard.
The chairman committee also sought a report on the journalists’ protection law.
The Standing Committee was informed that the legal draft for the protection of journalists was sent to the Ministry of Human Rights.
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