Pakistan firmly believes in freedom of expression: foreign minister

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday said Pakistan firmly believed in freedom of expression but, he stressed, blasphemous or hateful content under the pretext of freedom of expression was not acceptable for us.

He was talking to Vice President Public Policy Facebook Simon Milner in Islamabad on Wednesday.

The foreign minister commended the role of Facebook in promotion of e-commerce in Pakistan.

Matters of mutual interest including control of hateful material and promotion of e-commerce on Facebook were discussed in the meeting.

Read More: Facebook can play significant role in checking misuse of social media: PM Imran

Simon Milner said this was his first visit, and his meetings with the Pakistani officials proved useful.

A day rarlier in a meeting with Milner, Prime Minister Imran Khan underscored the need for putting in place a robust mechanism to effectively check misuse of social media in spreading fake news, violence and hate content.

PM Imran said that Facebook, with its large number of subscribers, can play a significant role towards checking negative attempts that threaten our society and social values.

He appreciated Facebook’ existing global outreach and efforts for building online communities towards promoting social connectivity among peoples and communities across the world.

According to a statement released from the ministry, Khan also acknowledged the role of Facebook and social media towards raising awareness among public on critical issues.