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> Amin-ul-Haque, Pakistan’s information technology minister, said the government supported freedom of speech, but would not tolerate certain forms of content.

> Amin-ul-Haque, Pakistan’s information technology minister, said the government supported freedom of speech, but would not tolerate certain forms of content. > “The government of Pakistan will not tolerate three things in any form,” he told Al Jazeera. “Hate speech, number one. Number two is anti-state content, and number three is vulgarity.” That is so amazingly blatant, they are not even trying to spin this.

salamimonger 6y ago
That's pretty progressive of them, to put hate speech first and front of their priorities. Many of us in the West would love if we did the same. Go Pakistan!
- ashtonkem 6y ago
  Of course, who defines hate speech? Even here in the US we're already starting to see attempts by local government to define anti-cop sentiment as "hate speech"; an obvious perversion of the original intent, but a sadly predictable result of leaving such a wide ranging power within easy reach of partisans politics.
- garg 6y ago
  Hardly progressive - Everything progressive is simply deemed to be vulgar hate speech and then blocked. Don't forget that it's a very conservative country that, in my opinion, would be a Republican utopia if the official religion was christianity instead of Islam.
disown 6y ago
> That is so amazingly blatant, they are not even trying to spin this. Their honesty is like a breath of fresh fair. If it was germany/europe or silicon valley, they would have rephrased "anti-state content" as "anti-democracy content". And a bunch of people here would be celebrating and praising it. #1 and #3 is pretty much a copy of HN guidelines or the censorship rules on most social media. Also you got to hand it to aljazeera. They support "silencing the internet" like most news organizations but of course wouldn't accuse themselves or their fellow propaganda organizations of doing so. Their "silencing" is more benign. It's for the good of the people...
- kodah 6y ago
  "The common good" is an entirely red flag these days.
- Elessar 6y ago
  Government censorship is significantly more impactful than what companies can do. One makes the rules. The others operate within. It’s best not to equate the two. And yes, HN has a diverse audience and you’ll always find someone celebrating a story. Regardless, as a westerner, I feel sorry for the people of Pakistan.
  - disown 6y ago
    > Government censorship is significantly more impactful than what companies can do. Maybe in the past. But not today. Pakistan is what 200 million people? FB has 2.2 billion people using its services. By any stretch of the imagination, I'd say the largest companies in the world are geopolitically stronger than the government of pakistan regardless of their nuclear weapons. > One makes the rules. The others operate within Except who buys the rules? The people with the money. > It’s best not to equate the two. Actually it is. Especially when large corporations can "buy" laws. > Regardless, as a westerner, I feel sorry for the people of Pakistan. That's rather patronizing. And as an american, I feel sorry for you and whereever you are too ashamed to say you are from. I love people that hide behind "westerner".
    - eikenberry 6y ago
      Will Facebook send armed men to your house to take you prison for posting some vulgarity or politically sensitive topic? When they can I'll consider them equal.
2Gkashmiri 6y ago
yeah. they are all the same. you know india banned PUBG mobile game on account for being a "chinese" game, being a bad influence on the health of kids and blah blah blah. a few days later some indian announced a game "FAU-G" which probably is a pubg clone and everyone is going gaga over it, equating playing the game as being a sign of a nationalist. no concern for the health of kids because this game is india made. smh. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/02/tech/india-bans-pubg-alipay/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/02/tech/india-bans-pubg-alip... https://www.gizbot.com/gaming/news/fau-g-game-is-indias-answer-to-pubg-launch-slated-for-october-069794.html https://www.gizbot.com/gaming/news/fau-g-game-is-indias-answ... https://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/bollywood-news-akshay-kumar-launches-teaser-of-fau-g-game-on-the-occasion-of-dussehra-1709616/ https://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/bollywood-news-aks... >He had written, “Supporting PM @narendramodi’s AtmaNirbhar movement, proud to present an action game,Fearless And United-Guards FAU-G. Besides entertainment, players will also learn about the sacrifices of our soldiers. 20% of the net revenue generated will be donated to @BharatKeVeer Trust #FAUG.” https://www.news18.com/news/tech/pubg-mobile-india-ban-is-permanent-game-too-violent-to-be-allowed-again-reports-2924727.html https://www.news18.com/news/tech/pubg-mobile-india-ban-is-pe... >game that is "too violent" in nature. s a result, it may never be allowed back in the Indian cyber space again, in light of the violence as well as the tendency of addiction that the game brings so the TLDR; chinese app is too violent and has a tendency of addiction but a homegrown app that competes with this app is fine because it is make in india and we need to support locals. yeah right

salamimonger 6y ago

That's pretty progressive of them, to put hate speech first and front of their priorities. Many of us in the West would love if we did the same. Go Pakistan!

ashtonkem 6y ago
Of course, who defines hate speech? Even here in the US we're already starting to see attempts by local government to define anti-cop sentiment as "hate speech"; an obvious perversion of the original intent, but a sadly predictable result of leaving such a wide ranging power within easy reach of partisans politics.
garg 6y ago
Hardly progressive - Everything progressive is simply deemed to be vulgar hate speech and then blocked. Don't forget that it's a very conservative country that, in my opinion, would be a Republican utopia if the official religion was christianity instead of Islam.

disown 6y ago

> That is so amazingly blatant, they are not even trying to spin this. Their honesty is like a breath of fresh fair. If it was germany/europe or silicon valley, they would have rephrased "anti-state content" as "anti-democracy content". And a bunch of people here would be celebrating and praising it. #1 and #3 is pretty much a copy of HN guidelines or the censorship rules on most social media. Also you got to hand it to aljazeera. They support "silencing the internet" like most news organizations but of course wouldn't accuse themselves or their fellow propaganda organizations of doing so. Their "silencing" is more benign. It's for the good of the people...

kodah 6y ago
"The common good" is an entirely red flag these days.
Elessar 6y ago
Government censorship is significantly more impactful than what companies can do. One makes the rules. The others operate within. It’s best not to equate the two. And yes, HN has a diverse audience and you’ll always find someone celebrating a story. Regardless, as a westerner, I feel sorry for the people of Pakistan.
- disown 6y ago
  > Government censorship is significantly more impactful than what companies can do. Maybe in the past. But not today. Pakistan is what 200 million people? FB has 2.2 billion people using its services. By any stretch of the imagination, I'd say the largest companies in the world are geopolitically stronger than the government of pakistan regardless of their nuclear weapons. > One makes the rules. The others operate within Except who buys the rules? The people with the money. > It’s best not to equate the two. Actually it is. Especially when large corporations can "buy" laws. > Regardless, as a westerner, I feel sorry for the people of Pakistan. That's rather patronizing. And as an american, I feel sorry for you and whereever you are too ashamed to say you are from. I love people that hide behind "westerner".
  - eikenberry 6y ago
    Will Facebook send armed men to your house to take you prison for posting some vulgarity or politically sensitive topic? When they can I'll consider them equal.

2Gkashmiri 6y ago

yeah. they are all the same. you know india banned PUBG mobile game on account for being a "chinese" game, being a bad influence on the health of kids and blah blah blah. a few days later some indian announced a game "FAU-G" which probably is a pubg clone and everyone is going gaga over it, equating playing the game as being a sign of a nationalist. no concern for the health of kids because this game is india made. smh. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/02/tech/india-bans-pubg-alipay/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/02/tech/india-bans-pubg-alip... https://www.gizbot.com/gaming/news/fau-g-game-is-indias-answer-to-pubg-launch-slated-for-october-069794.html https://www.gizbot.com/gaming/news/fau-g-game-is-indias-answ... https://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/bollywood-news-akshay-kumar-launches-teaser-of-fau-g-game-on-the-occasion-of-dussehra-1709616/ https://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/bollywood-news-aks... >He had written, “Supporting PM @narendramodi’s AtmaNirbhar movement, proud to present an action game,Fearless And United-Guards FAU-G. Besides entertainment, players will also learn about the sacrifices of our soldiers. 20% of the net revenue generated will be donated to @BharatKeVeer Trust #FAUG.” https://www.news18.com/news/tech/pubg-mobile-india-ban-is-permanent-game-too-violent-to-be-allowed-again-reports-2924727.html https://www.news18.com/news/tech/pubg-mobile-india-ban-is-pe... >game that is "too violent" in nature. s a result, it may never be allowed back in the Indian cyber space again, in light of the violence as well as the tendency of addiction that the game brings so the TLDR; chinese app is too violent and has a tendency of addiction but a homegrown app that competes with this app is fine because it is make in india and we need to support locals. yeah right