ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has introduced various steps to curb blasphemous content from Social Media websites.

PTA has established a web analysis cell where 25 personnel are working solely on identifying unlawful contents on internet including the blasphemous material.

According to PTA official, PTA  has received 8,000 complaints via email, out of which 188 were particularly about blasphemous content.The department took action gainst the complaints and the complaints related to threat and harassment have been referred to FIA, he added .

He informed that blasphemous material being uploaded on internet in different forms like literature , pictures , audio, video therefore its identification without human intervention is not possible.PTA has deployed a team of 25 IT personnel for this purpose, he added.

“PTA has blocked around 13,210 blasphemous links that was uploaded on the internet", he reiterated.

PTA has developed an electronic portal to facilitate stakeholders to lodge complaints relating to any objectionable web content. An email address is also advertised in the media facilitating general public to inform about any blasphemous content, the official said.

MoIT in consultation with PTA has drafted Rules namely “Removal or blocking of unlawful online content (Procedure, oversight and safeguard) Rules 2017, under the prevention of electronic Crime Act, 2016".The said rules are in process for approval of the cabinet, he maintained.

PTA has also requested HEC, MoIT and FIA to upload these guidelines on their respective websites for education of general public and also requested all concerned stakeholders to report the objectionable content to the relevant platform directly.

As a part of public awareness campaign, a short message was broadcasted to all mobile subscribers for awareness about uploading/spreading of blasphemous material on internet and its repercussions under the law.

People could report offensive content on social media on [email protected]. —APP