Taking steps to prevent the use of internet and social media for
terrorist activities, the Ministry of Information Technology has blocked 937
URLS and 10 websites run by banned organisations, it was learnt on Saturday.
These and other statistics were revealed in an interior ministry document
on the progress of the National Action Plan (NAP), which has been acquired by
DawnNews.
An investigation carried out by Dawn across the month of April 2017 had
revealed that 41 of Pakistan’s 64 banned outfits are present on Facebook in the
form of hundreds of pages, groups and individual user profiles.
Their network, both interconnected and public, is a mix of Sunni and Shia
sectarian or terror outfits, global terror organisations operating in Pakistan,
and separatists in Balochistan and Sindh.
However, there appears to have been very little overall progress in NAP
in the last three months, as figures of the implementation report released in
September are only slightly different than the latest report.
Here are the main takeaways from the interior ministry's report:
Hate speech
In an effort to counter hate speech and extremist material, the
government registered 1,351 cases, arrested 2,525 people and sealed 70 shops.
The National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta) is preparing an
application to report incidents of hate speech.
Preventing internet use for terrorism
The government passed the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016
IT ministry blocked 937 URLS and 10 websites operated by banned
organisations
Dismantling communication networks of terrorists
A total of 98.3 million SIMs have been blocked
Biometric verification system in place
Misuse of loudspeakers
To prevent misuse of loudspeakers, the government:
Registere 17,616 cases
Arrested 18,308 suspects
and seized 7,942 pieces of equipment.
Registration, regulation of madressahs
Two separate registration and data forms for madressahs have been
developed
Committee has been formed to grant equivalence degree awarding status to
wafaqs
Decline in sectarian terrorism
The report shows that there has been a significant decline in incidents
of sectarian terrorism, with sectarian attacks falling from a peak of 185 in
2012 to two attacks in 2017.
Renewed focus on NAP?
The military appears to have a renewed focus on NAP since the launch of
Operation Raddul Fasaad across the country following a spate of terror attacks
earlier this year.
Raddul Fasaad — which translates roughly to 'elimination of discord' — is
aimed towards indiscriminately eliminating the "residual/latent threat of
terrorism", consolidating the gains made in other military operations, and
further ensuring the security of Pakistan's borders, the Inter-Services Public
Relations had said as it announced the operation.
The military operation is intended to be a continuation of NAP, which was
widely criticised for its apparently half-hearted implementation.
NAP had been formulated after the devastating attack on Army Public
School Peshawar in December 2014.
As part of the plan, military courts were established to fast-track
terrorism cases. Intelligence-based operations across the country were
initiated to disrupt and destroy terror networks in urban and rural areas. The
plan had also laid an emphasis on curtailing terror financing.
NAP had also promised to take action against seminaries involved in
militancy, but the government had dithered on bringing them under control,
apparently fearing a backlash from religious parties as well as militants.
The plan further envisaged countering hate speech and extremist material
through the powers vested in the provincial police and other authorities. Pemra
and other regulatory authorities were tasked with checking and banning
glorification of terrorism and militant groups through print and electronic
media. The drafting of the Electronic Media Code of Conduct was also a positive
step.
The provinces were further instructed under NAP to raise a
counter-terrorism force under a dedicated command structure.
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