80,000 SIMs blocked for spreading fake news: NA told

About 80,000 SIMs have been disabled for spreading false information, Parliamentary Secretary for Cabinet Division Sajid Mehdi told the National Assembly on Wednesday.

He stated that the government is actively working to solve the problem of false news spreading on social media platforms, which has raised serious concerns among the people, in response to a calling attention notice. A joint task team has been formed, he said, and the prime minister has already received its findings.

He emphasised the necessity of fixing the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016’s flaws and announced that changes would be made to the law to speed up the trial of cases involving the spread of false information.