ISLAMABAD, Jan 29 (APP): Caretaker Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Solangi on Monday strongly condemned propaganda on social media networking sites regarding the so-called harassment of some journalists during a probe into a “smear campaign” against the top judges.
“There has been a gatekeeper mechanism in the newspapers for verification of the information, but ironically some YouTubers on social media have created a new political economy which says the more lies you churn out, the more views you get,” the minister said while responding to a query in a private news channel’s current affairs programme.
He said the Federal Investigation Agency, which was authorized to take action, issued notices to 32 journalists and YouTubers, and 22 political persons, and asked them to give their version over the issue.
Brushing aside the rumours about the so-called harassment, the minister said, “Serving of a notice is not tantamount to harassment. These notices are not withdrawn as for now.”
He said humiliation and ridiculing someone did not come under the scope of Article 19 of the Constitution that guaranteed right to freedom of expression.
Solangi said no one was above the law and whosoever had done the violation, they would have to face the music.
“The Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) can block any website that violates the law,” he said in response to another query.
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