Lahore: Social media is the most popular medium of information and it should be regulated in the light of effective laws of the land without harming the civil rights and national security.
It was narrated by participants in a round table discussion here at National Institute of Public Policy (NIPP) on Monday. Lahore NIPP Rector Dr Ijaz Munir chaired the session while Dean Dr Naveed Ehali moderate the session.
Keynote speakers included Director General of National Institute of Management (NIM) Farooq Mazhar, LUMS Associate Professor Dr Taimur Rehman, PU Department of Digital Media School of Communication Studies Chairperson Dr Savera Shami, Executive Director Digital Rights Foundation Nighat Daad, journalist from Daily Pakistan Usman Shami and Dr Fareed Zafar, Associate Professor from LUMS.
The discussion focused on various aspects of regulating social media and addressed gaps identified in social media regulations. In his discussion, Dr. Fareed Zafar emphasized the need for education and awareness about so
cial media usage, highlighting the impact of fake news and sensationalism on society. He quoted the reporting and news content of various channels in social media on national and international issues. He emphasized the urgent need for improving cyber security laws and their implementation.
Dr Taimur Rehman from LUMS expressed that users of social media should use social apps with care as education and awareness was important. He was of the view that laws regulating social media should be more effective. He termed the social media apps as the business models of the owners who were using the public sentiments through the influencers for the sake of money. Parents should provide proper guidance to their children about the correct usage of social media. Professor Dr Savera Shami suggested creating awareness about the negative impact of unbounded use of social media. She was of the view that social media platforms should be invited to establish their offices in Pakistan for sake of enabling and regulating environ
ment under the laws. She stressed the need for timely enforcement of laws to eliminate extremism and hate content from the social media.
During a question answer session, the participants discussed various proposals to regulate social media.
Later, Rector Dr Ijaz Munir distributed shields among the panelists and participants.