ISLAMABAD    -      Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan said on Wednesday
that the government would consult all stakeholders including
the media before making any
changes in the law empowering
the Federal Investigation Agency
(FIA) to act against the use of social media platforms for spreading propaganda against state institutions. He also said that the
government would withdraw  any proposed bill that curbs
freedom of expression. The
interior minister said this
while talking to reporters
here a day after the cabinet
approved a summary moved
by the Ministry of Interior seeking amendments in
the schedule of the FIA Act,
1974. It empowered the premier investigation agency
to act against those who use
social media to “spread rumours and false information
against the state institutions.”
The move caused widespread
anger by civil society organizations and media representative bodies. Rana Sanaullah
said that the bill in this regard would be moved in the
National Assembly and law
would be passed only if consensus was evolved. He said
that a thorough debate would
be held in the parliament
about the proposed amendment in the law that also provides for seven-year imprisonment for those spreading
hateful content on social media. “If the amendment leads
to restrictions on people’s
freedom of expression, then
the government will withdraw the bill.” The minister
underlined that there were
certain things on social media that needed to be controlled. He added that social
media platforms were being
used to harm and affect people’s private lives. Responding to a question, he said that
the government’s doors were
always open for negotiations
with the PTI. “No one ever
closes doors for talks in politics.” He at the same time said
that talks were held among
the politicians and PTI chairman Imran Khan was not a
politician. He said that informal talks with the PTI leaders
never ended, but there were
no formal talks going on at the
moment. He explained that
the PTI’s application submitted before the Islamabad Administration seeking to hold a
protest rally in the capital was
also a form of contact. “Such
contacts cannot be described
as formal.” He deplored that
whenever the government
talked about negotiations, it
got abuses in return. That is
the reason that the government has taken the stance
that it will not talk about holding negotiations, he added.