Islamabad has undertaken an important initiative to stop the circulation of blasphemous material on the social media. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan held a meeting the other day with ambassadors of Muslim countries to discuss ways and means of responding to the "madness unleashed against Islam and its holy personalities in the name of freedom of expression." It was decided that the foreign ministry would prepare a comprehensive strategy paper dealing with legal and technical issues involved, which the ambassadors are to share with their respective governments for devising a joint plan of action. And further that the issue would be taken up with the UN.

Any appeal to the UN is unlikely to bring the desired result. Western countries controlling the social media and dominating the UN decision-making bodies maintain double standards in dealing with the issue, citing freedom of expression as an inalienable democratic right in regards to such outrageous behaviour as the publication of blasphemous cartoons by the Danish newspaper, and adopting an entirely different stance on issues that rankle them. Freedom of expression, for instance, takes a backseat when it comes to any manifestation of anti-Semitism or holocaust denial. Indeed, freedom of thought forms the basis of religious and political liberties in Western societies. But mocking another people's faith with the intention of insulting them cannot pass as freedom of expression; it falls within the definition of hate crime and amounts to abuse of a vital human right.

What can bring about change is to hit where it hurts. An example in this respect was recently set when an investigation report in the "Times" pointed out that advertisements by big companies, universities and charities appeared on YouTube and some of Google's other platforms alongside material run by supporters of the IS and violent pro-Nazi groups. The reaction in the affected countries was one of shock. More than 250 brands announced suspension of their adverts demanding that Google give assurances that their adverts would not appear next to such content. Google, of course, promptly gave the assurance, explaining that "we remove flagged videos that break our rules and have a zero tolerance policy for content that incites violence or hatred." By the same token, it should have no hesitation to remove content that incites hatred against Muslims. That though can happen only if the Muslim countries, especially the rich Gulf states, join hands and use their advertising campaigns selling products or services on the social media to tell Google, Facebook and other internet platforms to eliminate blasphemous material from their sites if they want their money.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017