By Adnan Rafique
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has urged the citizens to promptly report any instances of illegal, hateful and blasphemous content on social media to the respective social media platform and the PTA.
The PTA, in a public notice, advised the individuals to file complaints for any violations at the link https://complaint.pta.gov.pk/RegisterComplaint.aspx or email address content-complaint@pta.gov.pk.
Moreover, it added, the individuals could also file their complaints with the Cyber Crime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for legal action against the persons concerned. The complaints could be lodged by calling at 1991 or emailing helpdesk@nr3c.gov.pk.
“The public is informed that under the Publication of the Holy Quran (Elimination of Printing and Recording Errors) Act 1973, any such printing, publication, or recording of the Holy Quran by any unregistered publisher of the Holy Quran or such printed Quran or any part of the Holy Quran which has been recorded or published in any form (book, record, textbook, etc.) and in which a word, letter or Irab has been changed or the order of Ayat and Surah has been changed or if it has been translated or interpreted by a non-Muslim in such a way that it is against the Muslim faith, in all such cases the perpetrator of these crimes shall be liable to severe punishment,” the notice read.
Moreover, it added that under Section 295(B) of the Pakistan Penal Code, “anyone found committing profanity to the Holy Quran, its pages, or its quotation shall be punished with imprisonment for life”.
The PTA appealed to the public (both Muslim and non-Muslim citizens) to be careful concerning religious matters, holy books, and holy figures and act with extreme caution and responsibility when commenting or giving opinions, publishing, etc. on such matters, especially on the social media.
The Authority mentioned that the relevant government organizations “continually monitor illegal, hateful, and blasphemous content and take action against those involved as per the Constitution of Pakistan, relevant laws, and court orders”.
