COAS calls for stricter regulation of social media

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir on Friday called for stricter regulation of social media, noting that unrestricted freedom of expression was leading to the moral degradation of the society.

The army chief expressed these views during the Margalla Dialogue, hosted by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute. Various issues, including Pakistan’s role in UN Peacekeeping Missions, border management, terrorism, and freedom of speech came under discussion.

“Without comprehensive laws and regulations, false and misleading information, along with hate speech, will continue to destabilise political and social structures,” Dawn quoted General Munir as saying.

The speech comes amid the federal government’s crackdown on unregistered VPNs across the country. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) says it has begun the process of whitelisting unregistered virtual private networks.

The authority on Friday said it had launched a new registration portal for VPN users, following reports of restricted access to VPNs and poor internet connectivity across Pakistan.

The PTA emphasized that disruptions were due to a technical glitch, not intentional throttling, and urged users to register their VPNs for uninterrupted access.