Authorities Wednesday vowed to carry out a "massive" crackdown targeting hate speech and extremism on social media, as a minister boasted arrests have already been made. Officials are frequently accused of muzzling the media and targeting individuals critical of the establishment and have blocked hundreds of websites and social media accounts over the years. Information minister Fawad Chaudhry announced the government was setting up a new enforcement arm to regulate social media during a speech in Islamabad. "We made some arrests last week and by the will of Allah we are launching a massive crackdown against social media users spreading hate speech and violence," he said.

Self censorship in the South Asia nation is widely believed to be rife at traditional news outlets. "Our problem is that digital media is over taking formal media so it is important for us to regulate this," Chaudhry added, saying: "Informal media is a greater problem than formal media."

The announcement comes days after authorities arrested a journalist for allegedly posting defamatory content on social media. Local media also complained about pressure in the run-up to a general election in July to self-censor in favour of the eventual victor, cricketer-turned-prime-minister Imran Khan. The Committee to Protect Journalists said the army had "quietly but effectively, set restrictions on reporting" in a report released September last year.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019