Suspension of internet services was slapped on the provincial capital for around  48 hours  reportedly for containing a flurry of hate speeches that had overcast the skies of social media in the wake of a very unfortunate incident of brutal mob lynching of youth in Quetta’s heavily guarded Hazara Town. The Government has already constituted an investigation team comprising representatives from the intelligences agencies to unearth the motive behind murder and present the report within 15 days. However, the incident provided seasonal vultures a chance to vent their longstanding biases and hatred against each other and hence social media become the second battle ground for hatemongers.

Whereas the social media platforms have become a very powerful agent of social change and have triggered many a revolutions across the globe, they have equally become potential risks for the social orders worldwide. The print media and traditional sources of information are in a quick phase of transformation and many renowned newspapers have closed their print editions to publish digitally. The future of the world belongs to digital platforms and no one can dispute the fact. However, one the worrying factors that has gripped not only Pakistan but also the entire world is that of fake news. Traditional media platforms such as print newspapers and magazine have professional editors who edit and fact-check a news items before publication to the best of their knowledge and satisfaction and stand responsible for any misinformation and consequences thereof. Contrarily, the social media platforms are free where anyone can publish anything deeming it to be an information or a news item otherwise a personal whim, hatred or political, social or religious inclination.

The closure of internet services is a temporary solution to a large problem that affects that very sections of society that earn their bread and butter through online earning and freelancing. Missing of a deadline means loss of thousands of rupees for a freelancer. Similarly, students who are engaged in research activities find themselves totally helpless without internet services and even the traditional news industry is heavily dependent on the internet these days. Pakistani diaspora abroad has the only source of connectivity through internet. Hence, closure of the services handicaps many positive users.

The solution lies in a middle path where government should introduce a system of warning followed by fines and punishments to those social media users who use their accounts for mudslinging, spread of hate speeches and communal hatred. This can well be done through Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) where any user who has resorted to such malicious speech can be tracked a punished. It is imperative to point out here that the right to information is yet another aspect of the story where oppressive governments worldwide have resorted to banning the flow of legitimate information and also legitimate criticism over governments under the garb of regulating social media and its misuse. Such draconian laws are also not acceptable as they directly go in clash with the fundamental rights of the masses. Hence, government instead of suspending the internet services should go for alternate means of controlling hate speeches as due to a handful of online miscreants, majority suffer.