Twitter uncooperative with Pakistani govt on illegal content removal: report

An official government document states that the management of Twitter is not cooperating with the Pakistani government in the removal of illegal content on their platform, as reported by ProPakistani.pk

According to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), they have processed a total of 1862 websites which contained content related to impersonation and fake accounts. These websites include 106 Dailymotion, 13 Instagram, 341 on Twitter, 268 YouTube and 211 other/Misc posts or accounts.

The telecommunication authority has been working in close coordination with Facebook’s management to address and resolve the issue of illegal content on their platform. The authorities have said that the management of Facebook is cooperating better, but the response from Twitter is highly discouraging.

According to section 37 of Prevention of Electronic Crime Act (PECA), PTA has the official authority to block or remove any online content which is deemed unlawful including fake accounts on social media websites. PTA has also formed a dedicated cell named Web Analysis Cell (WAC) to receive and process the complaints regarding internet content regulation. The cell follows a standard operating procedure devised by the authorities to handle complaints in an effective manner.

After receiving a complaint, PTA issues necessary directions for the alleged content to be removed by telecom licensees. As far as social media platforms are concerned, the relevant management officials from these websites are requested to remove the alleged content or block the fake account. The request is made because the laws of Pakistan do not apply on such platforms, therefore the authorities take action in accordance with their community standards.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcast (MoIB) has also raised a Cyber Wing which reported a total of 85 fake accounts on social media websites, including 72 Twitter and 13 Facebook accounts.