ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Monday heard a petition filed against proposed social media regulatory laws, ARY News reported.
A bench of the high court comprises of Chief Justice Athar Minallah issued notices to the federation, information technology and law ministries over the petition.
The petitioner’s counsel Barrister Jahangir Jadoon maintained that the Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020 meant to curb the freedom of expression and cotravenes the constitution.
Justice Athar Minallah observed that most countries in the world have social media regulatory laws.
The counsel pleaded that the court should notice to the government over the matter.
The counsel said that the government was appointing a national coordinator with more authority than even the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
The court sought details of the criteria set for the appointment of the coordinator and required academic qualification. The counsel expressed ignorance about it.
He complained that the stakeholders were not consulted by the government before drafting of the rules.
Justice Athar Minallah clubbed the petition with ongoing cases pertaining to media after hearing the arguments.
