Facebook monetization issue to be resolved soon in Pakistan, says official

The issue of monetizing content on Facebook will soon be resolved in Pakistan, PM’s focal person on digital media Dr Arsalan Khalid said on Tuesday.

Pakistan currently has 40 million Facebook subscribers, according to Statista figures. It ranks 11th in the world in terms of Facebook users.

India ranks first on the list, followed by the US, Indonesia and Brazil. At present, there are 38 countries currently in the world where Facebook monetization is on, but Pakistan is not one of them.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly recently adopted a resolution in this regard. It demanded the federal government talk to Facebook management regarding monetization of content so that the youth in the country could earn through the social media giant.

“The federal government has been in negotiations with Facebook over monetization for over a year now,” Dr Khalid told SAMAA Digital. “Things are close to come to a solution.”

The official said the social media behemoth has some reservations about the social media rules in the country.

The government maintains that like all other countries, social media must have some rules and regulations especially in cases like blasphemy, child pornography, cyber harassment and willful attempt to create chaos endangering the lives of people.

“Hopefully discussions with Facebook will bring result soon,” Dr Khalid said.

Late last month, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly unanimously passed a resolution to demand the federal government to take measures towards turning Facebook monetization on in Pakistan.

The resolution was put forth by the former Advisor on IT to the CM Zia Ullah Bangash.

“Approximately 5 million Facebook users in Pakistan especially the youth can benefit from the positive use of Facebook and earn money,” the former advisor tweeted on the occasion.