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Freedom of Speech: Does this allow to spread hate among others?

Hate-Speech is NOT Freedom of Speech

Freedom of speech; while this is a right of every human, it mustn’t be misused in any way. Freedom of speech doesn’t allow anyone to spread hate-speech. At least being a human, this is just an amoral attitude.

In recent times, Pakistan has been under attacked with this so-called freedom of speech privilege. Many anti-Islam groups or individuals have been posting and sharing blasphemous content over social networking giants like Facebook and Twitter.

In response to these blasphemous contents, the government of Pakistan has contacted the social media networks to put such evil content down and share the details of users behind these wrong acts. However, no such positive response has received from these social media giants.

The government of Pakistan in the light of religion and law is now on the verge of blocking these websites if necessary measures are not taken against blasphemy. The government has, however, managed to block some hate-provoking content on these giant networks. But there are still more to be removed.

This is not the first time when anti-Islamic groups are found guilty. A few years back, YouTube was also being blocked by the government of Pakistan on sharing blasphemous content. And this time it could be Facebook and twitter.

How to stop misusing the right to freedom of speech?

Facebook is the most widely used social networking site in Pakistan. Blocking Facebook means a restriction to use the platform by millions, which in turn would cost the social networking company.

However, Facebook would not be the only one under loss. Facebook is not just a place to chat and laugh. It’s now more likely to be the best marketing tool for small businesses. Many individuals have been selling their services/goods by using this network of people all around the globe. If Facebook is banned in Pakistan, they would have to find other ways to market their products online.

The government of Pakistan is planning to launch local versions of Facebook and other social networking sites. But this would take time.

While blasphemy can never be linked to freedom of speech, blocking these social networks should be the last resort. To tackle these wicked moves, Pakistanis (whether Muslim or not) must cooperate with the government of Pakistan.

One easy way to prevent these anti-religious posts is to report such content as soon as a user witness them. Twitter and Facebook, both have the options to report a content not suitable in any way. The second move could be to block such a person or group so that you won’t see any content from them again.

If you have been using these websites for long, you must be well-aware of features like ‘Comments’, ‘Share’, and ‘Like’. The features aren’t just installed to get your personal opinion. But they do more.

For example, when you hit ‘Like’ on any post, you’re in fact promoting that post. This post would then be added to your timeline and would also gain popularity which you don’t see until later.

Same applies to other feature (‘Comments’ and ‘Share’). So whenever you see a post which you truly oppose, never ever use the above-mentioned features (‘Comments’, ‘Share’, and ‘Like’). Report them or at least ignore them.

Where Facebook and Twitter have a rather strict policy of disclosing users’ identity, they must value rights, emotions, and laws of nations and individuals. If they can’t provide details of individuals involved in such negative activities, they must at least remove the content as requested by the government of Pakistan, and must also block those account holders.

Image credits: IRBF

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