Government wants to regulate social media: Info minister

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Thursday that the government wanted to regulate social media in the country.

“This [regulating social media] will not be possible until we have a relationship with international giants like Google and Facebook,” Chaudhry said while addressing a seminar on media.

The information minister spoke on too much information leading to an increase in conflict, adding that this issue was not unique to Pakistan.

Fawad Chaudhry further said there were three different regulatory bodies regulating the media in Pakistan. “We are trying to merge them and make one authority which will coordinate with international bodies. In the future domestic regulation will be irrelevant and international regulation relevant.”

Information Minister Chaudhry cautioned that the media industry and students studying this field needed to be mindful of technological advancements taking place.

“We need to evaluate that universities which are running such a large media departments will there be jobs in the future for these students.”

Chaudhry also said there was a need for the media industry to revise the existing business model.