Nowadays, a hot topic in Pakistan is about punishing Facebook because Facebook is supporting India regarding the Kashmir issue. All this because facebook had a massive crackdown on anti-India propaganda done by Pakistan.
What happened?
Chairman of the parliamentary committee on Kashmir Shahryar Khan Afridi directed the chief of Pakistan telecommunication authority (PTA) to take legal action against Facebook over the selective steps it took against Pakistani and Kashmiri social media activist. Recently PTA was also in the news because it threatened the Hindu American body over publishing a website on the genocide of Bangladeshi’s in 1971 by the Pak army. In Pakistan, Facebook reported that it removed at least 40 accounts, 28 Instagram accounts and groups, all involved in manipulating domestic public opinion in favour of the Pakistan military and its policies, including on topics such as India and Kashmir. Facebook investigated all the countries that are trying to spread their propaganda on Facebook and found that two countries are manipulating people on a large scale, Pakistan and Russia. They make fake accounts and pages on Facebook and use these pages to spread their propaganda. This kind of work is accomplished by an agency known as ‘Alphapro’, which is a Pakistan- based PR firm. “Key narratives advanced by the network include: praise for Pakistan and its armed forces; efforts to denigrate india and highlight attacks by Hindu nationalists targeting religious minorities and support for Pakistani PM,” said a Graphika report. This step was taken by Facebook on its own seeing the scale of propaganda on Facebook.
The advantage of this type of propaganda is to increase the soft power of Pakistan and reduce that of India. This is a long term strategy. Recently Pakistan has reported the deaths of journalists who spoke against the Pakistani government. There is also a draft law in Pakistan’s parliament that effectively criminalises criticism of the military with a two-year prison sentence and heavy fines. On one side Pakistan is trying to suppress the voice of journalists in Pakistan and on the other hand seeking free speech on Facebook so that it can continue its propaganda.
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