Govt to check text, emails against political leadership

[Naveed Yaseen]

ISLAMABAD: The government announced on Sunday a special campaign against those involved in spreading “propaganda” against senior government officials through emails and text messages.

Launched on the directions of Interior Minister Rehman Malik, the campaign seeks to curtail the growing number of emails and text messages questioning the leadership of the government. A press release issued by the Interior Ministry stated a similar campaign had also been initiated against proscribed organisations that were using the Internet to spread malicious propaganda against the country’s security forces.

Under the campaign, the director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been instructed to monitor and check the spread of any malicious stories or messages regarding the country’s civilian leadership and take necessary action under the Cyber Crimes Act. Violators can be imprisoned for up to 14 years and any overseas Pakistanis can be charged under the act and their extradition sought. The government has also requested Interpol to identify the owners of any email addresses and websites registered abroad that spread such messages.

According to the press release, the servers of all Internet Service Providers shall be checked physically by the FIA on a daily basis to check the spread of such material. staff report

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