Islamabad
\nInterior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday announced a sweeping crackdown against fake news, warning that social media misinformation had reached a point where \u201c90 per cent of online news is false\u201d and would now face coordinated action from the state.
\nSpeaking at a press conference in Lahore, Naqvi said the information ministry and the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) would initiate action \u201con a massive scale\u201d.<\/p>\n
, adding that the state would no longer allow individuals to \u201cdeclare a living person dead, a dead person alive, or make any allegation they please without evidence\u201d.
\nHe emphasised that while he believed in freedom of expression and the right to criticise, these liberties did not extend to manufacturing or circulating false content. \u201cIf you have evidence, report a story. But you cannot fabricate content on social media and hide behind freedom of speech,\u201d he said.
\nNaqvi said mainstream journalists were part of an editorial system and responsible reporting structure, unlike those \u201cspreading fake news\u201d online. He added that PEMRA already acted on incorrect reporting in mainstream outlets, but social media lacked an accountability mechanism, prompting government action. He also suggested that a regulatory body for online content was \u201calready being established\u201d.
\nThe minister warned individuals abroad who, he said, were involved in disinformation campaigns targeting state institutions. \u201cThose sitting out there \u2014 you are also coming back soon. If you think you will get protection here, that is not possible. You will be answerable,\u201d he said.
\nHe added that political campaigns being run from India would expose \u201chow far some people are willing to go\u201d, stressing that the country\u2019s integrity was a red line.
\nAfghan repatriation drive
\nNaqvi said the repatriation of illegal Afghan migrants was progressing across Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan but was being obstructed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He alleged that Afghan camps de-notified by the federal government were still being operated in KP. \u201cOur message to the KP government is simple: prioritise your country over politics. National security is not an area where a province can run its own policy,\u201d he said.
\nHe warned that any Afghan who returned to Pakistan after repatriation would be arrested and said the federal government was considering multiple options, including legal action, to ensure KP\u2019s compliance.
\nNaqvi also addressed reports of passengers being offloaded at airports, saying only 50\u201370 people were stopped daily due to incomplete documentation. He directed the FIA to release the data to counter \u201cagent mafia\u2013led disinformation campaigns\u201d. \u201cIf we want to improve the ranking of our passport, action against travellers without proper documents is essential,\u201d he added.
\nCommenting on speculation surrounding the delay in the notification of the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) appointment, Naqvi said new constitutional systems could not be created \u201cby pressing a button\u201d.
\n\u201cThe Constitution has been amended, a new institution is being established. A system takes time,\u201d he said.
\nThe CDF post was created through the 27th Constitutional Amendment, replacing the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Field Marshal Asim Munir, who currently serves as COAS, is set to assume the role.
\nThe government will determine the division of responsibilities between the COAS and CDF, including multi-domain integration, restructuring and jointness of the armed forces. Under the amended law, the COAS\u2019 tenure will restart for five years once the notification is issued.
\n\u201cWe will not allow fake news to create panic in the garb of journalism,\u201d Naqvi said, adding that national security and public confidence could not be compromised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday announced a sweeping crackdown against fake news, warning that social media misinformation had reached a point where \u201c90 per cent of online news is false\u201d and would now face coordinated action from the state. Speaking at a press conference in Lahore, Naqvi said the information ministry and the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":89687,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90418"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90452,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90418\/revisions\/90452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}