13th March, 2018
The Pakistani government has launched a mobile phone application to enable the public to report hate speech in a bid to curb the spread of extremism and sectarianism.
The app, compatible with both Android and iOS operating systems, is called Chaukas (meaning “vigilant”) and has been launched by the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) as part of its cyber counter-terrorism initiative.
The app enables citizens to report anonymously extremist speeches, banners or activities wherever they notice them. Users can send pictures, audio, video or a written message.
“This is a step to curb the spread of extremist tendencies from the society,” Mujeebur Talpur, spokesperson for NACTA, told dpa on Tuesday.
The government defines hate speech only vaguely.
However, Talpur said that, for example, any material that “disturbs interfaith harmony, is based on sectarian or extremist views or is against any religion is considered hate speech.”
Pakistani daily newspaper Dawn reported in 2017 that 41 out of 64 banned extremist outfits in the country were “present on Facebook in the form of hundreds of pages, groups and individual user profiles.”
Talpur said that data and information received will be shared with police and other law-enforcement and regulatory authorities.
“There could be reluctance about the use of the app because it does not inform about the privacy of the user,” said Nighat Dad, founder of not-for-profit organisation Digital Rights Foundation.
In January, the government launched an application called Surfsafe, which allows citizens to report websites that publish extremist content and hate speech.