Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Muhammad Qasim Khan, while hearing a case on offensive content on social media, observed that a conspiracy could be hatched against Pakistan from abroad if social media was not controlled.
CJ LHC asked if a person could be tried in Pakistan for uploading hate material on social media from abroad or if a person was killed in Britain, could a trial be held in Pakistan. According to a report in The News, when the petitioner’s lawyer said that the law does exist under which a person could be tried in Pakistan for uploading objectionable material on social media while sitting abroad, CJ Qasim Khan got angry. He asked the lawyer to complete his preparation before coming up with arguments.
CJ LHC observed that people can be instigated to rebel if social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram were not controlled.
In April, CJ Khan had observed that civil servants should submit details of their cellular numbers and social media accounts to their relevant departments. He also asked departments to make a code of conduct for civil servants for social media use. He was hearing a petition against running a social media campaign against the judiciary after the arrest of an assistant commissioner on the orders of a civil judge in Sahiwal. Back in February, CJ LHC had ordered the director general FIA to constitute a committee to examine all YouTube channels as well as other social media accounts with videos against the judiciary and asked that proceedings against them should be initiated.
