Islamabad, 10th April 2017: The 25th meeting of the Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication was held under the Chairmanship of Capt. ® Muhammad Safdar, MNA.
2. The meeting was started with the recitation from the Holy Quran. Then, the Committee decided to proceed with the given agenda.
3.  Agenda item i.
The Committee unanimously confirmed the minutes of its last meeting held on 24th January, 2017.
4. Agenda item ii.
The Committee unanimously showed their serious concerns on the issue of blasphemies/objectionable material posted on social media and asked the Ministry, PTA and FIA representatives about the actions taken till date and the progress to mitigate the issues relating to this important subject.
5. The representatives from the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, Chairman, PTA and representative from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) briefed the Committee against blasphemous/objectionable material on social media. They also briefed about the culprits arrested across the country in connection to posting and propagation of blasphemous material. The Committee appreciated the efforts being undertaken so far by the MoIT&T, PTA, FIA and other agencies to tackle the issue. To further strengthen the efforts the Committee directed Chairman, PTA to establish a separate wing within a PTA and to strengthen existing systems to monitor proactively the appearance of blasphemous/objectionable contents and posts on social media and to take remedial actions. The Committee also directed to the concerned quarters to raise this issue and highlight it further with the Ambassadors of other Muslims countries to enable joint diplomatic efforts for effective dealing of the issue by social media platform providers. An important recommendation was made to take the matter up through the platforms of OIC and relevant agencies of the United Nations. The Committee also suggested consultation with Islamic Ideology Council for establishing all inclusive and sound approach to the sensitive subject. It was also decided to recommend a public awareness campaign through SMS messages by all Mobile companies and similar messages through print & electronic media. In the context of addressing the financial and funding sources of the blasphemers the Committee also directed to strengthen the regulatory mechanism to regulate the activity of local and foreign NGOs in Pakistan.  
6. The Committee deferred the agenda item No. iii & iv.
7. The Hon. MNAs/Member Mian Muhammad Farooq, Ms. Farhana Qamar, Ms. Zahra Wadood Fatemi, Mr. Amjid Ali Khan, Engineer Dawar Khan Kundi, Syed Ali Raza Abidi, Ms. Shahjehan Muneer Mangrio and Ch. Muhammad Tufail attended the meeting besides the Minister of State, Chairman PTA, senior officers from the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication and Federal Investigation Authority with their staff.