ISLAMABAD: The Violent Extremism Prevention Unit of the capital police blocked 462 social media accounts involved in spreading hatred, police said.

The unit examines and investigates accounts of different social media platforms to counter the spread of religious, sectarian, and linguistic hatred and propaganda against the country and institutions, they added.

The unit thoroughly monitored social media, traced 1,522 accounts of Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms involved in such activities, and wrote a letter to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) urging the closure of those accounts, among which 462 have been blocked.

In this regard, 65 accounts were found involved in religious hatred, 47 in propaganda against the country, and 350 accounts were involved in spreading terrorism content. Moreover, the remaining 1,060 social media accounts will also be closed soon.

Preventing extremism helps in countering terrorism and making the security of the capital more effective, the police said, adding that the teams of the capital police regularly engage with various educational institutions and madrassahs, and the sermons in the mosques are also reviewed to counter extremism.

Similarly, on social media and other websites, the unit reviews political, linguistic, and religious extremist content and prepares reports along with identifying the criminal activities upon which legal action is taken, they added.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2024