KARACHI: Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Wednesday lamented the “lack of mechanisms” to control and counter the spread of false information on digital platforms, stating that they cause damage to the country’s image and fragile economy, Dawn.com reported.

Addressing an event in Islamabad, the information minister said that in the digital age, verification, and authentication had become “the two most important tools that provided people with a true perspective on what’s going on and what the reality is.

“If you look at the brief historical background, as far as newspapers and TV are concerned, you had some form of editorial control,” the minister said.

“You had systems, training, and people well-equipped to deal with information and how to disseminate it.

Tarar says one small false news item can cause immeasurable losses to the country’s image

“In the digital age, unfortunately, we don’t have mechanisms to authenticate and verify information and it causes a lot of damage and losses,” Mr Tarar lamented, citing the example of how misinformation could damage Pakistan’s fragile economy.

“Our economy is very fragile and one small false news item can cause losses to the image of the country that can’t be measured,” he said.

Mr Tarar stressed the need to impart training to digital journalists on how to verify and authenticate information online, in a similar vein to their counterparts in other mediums.

“Since I took office, I have advocated that we need to equip our journalists and digital freelancers with proper skills, so they can become ambassadors of this country and contribute towards the image building of this country and protect vulnerable groups,” the minister said.

Mr Tarar cited the example of how misinformation affected his constituency in Lahore, with a wedge allegedly being driven between Christians and the government by religious extremists.

“I have 70,000 Christian voters in my constituency,” he said. “When I reached out to them I could sense fear… I could sense they were insecure. I told them I would hold an open mic, we would sit down and discuss what the problems are.

“Some false information spread by religious extremists had created such a huge wedge between us and them that it took almost a week for me to convince them that this country is theirs as much as ours,” he stated. “People who spread false info are not our friends.”

The minister added that marginalised groups, in particular, were vulnerable to the spread of misinformation online, as at present, no mechanisms existed to protect them.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2024