Both government and opposition senators are irritated by the fact that social media sites are going to be required to register in Pakistan while ministers are absent.
ISLAMABAD:
The treasury senators and those from the opposition urged on Friday that the chairman take note of this issue because ministers’ absences from Senate sessions had grown so frequent.
The Senate Chairman, Sadiq Sanjrani, informed the MPs that he will bring up this matter with the prime minister when presiding over the sessions of the upper chamber of parliament.
PPP Senator Rubina Khalid stated during Question Hour that the administration seems powerless in regards to the problem of offensive and blasphemous information on the internet.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was in charge of taking action against such information, she continued, and the issue had been raised several times during the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology sessions.
Shahadat Awan, a minister of state for law and justice, retorted that all internet hate speech directed towards any faith will be instantly suppressed.
Awan went on to say that over 5,000 Twitter accounts and almost 35,000 Facebook sites had been disabled.
He also mentioned that YouTube has banned 5,800 accounts.
He also disclosed to the House that the current administration was drafting laws to require social media companies to register their businesses in Pakistan.
In order to propose appropriate legislation for this goal, the prime minister constituted the National Social Working Committee in August of last year, the speaker noted.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), according to Awan, has so far handled 59,253 URLs connected to complaints of hate speech or sectarian offenses on social media.
47,674 Websites have been banned for hate speech as a result of all complaints as of February, he continued.
The state minister made note of the PTA’s 48-hour blockade of Wikipedia in accordance with the high court’s orders.
Awan stated that the PTA has the authority to remove or prevent access to material through any system in the interest of Pakistan’s integrity, security, or defense under Section 37 (1) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016.
He went on to say that the Removal and Blocking of Illegal Internet Material (Procedure, Oversight and Safeguard), Regulations, 2021 had been adopted by the federal government in accordance with Section 37 (2) of the PEC Act.
Dr. Asif Kimani, a senator for the PML-N, called the chairman’s attention to the vacant front row and expressed disappointment that the ministers’ absence suggested they were uninterested in the Senate’s business.
Awan informed him that certain ministers had prior commitments and couldn’t make it to the Senate meeting.
An incensed Kirmani demanded to know why the senators were taking part in the proceedings if they didn’t have any other business to attend to.
The Parliament was presented with the Trade Disputes Settlement Bill 2023 and the Petroleum Act 1934 Amendment Bill 2022.
The measures were forwarded to the appropriate standing committees.
Electrical vehicles are highly expensive, and the average person cannot import them, said Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman before the Senate.
She mentioned the local production of electrical cars by the Tata firm in India.
She went on to say that, regrettably, Pakistan lacked a capacity for producing batteries or electrical cars.
She reported to the House that Pakistan has created a policy for electrical two- and three-wheelers.
According to the minister, Pakistan produced over 3.3 million tons of plastic garbage, but the only places where it could be recycled were in a small number of European nations.
In response to a different query, she stated that the “Protected Areas Initiative” was started by the prime minister to protect 15 locations totaling 7,500 square kilometers of flora and animals.
The Senate adjourned till Monday morning at 11am.
Sanjrani phoned Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after the session ended to let him know that ministers were not present for the Senate proceedings and to ask for their presence.
