Roundtable - Disinformation on Social Media: - February 24, 2022

Disinformation on Social Media: Countering and Deconstructing Hostile Narratives Way Forward for Pakistan

A Roundtable Conference was hosted on 24th February 2022 in Islamabad by CPSD on the topic of Disinformation on Social Media; Countering and Deconstructing Hostile Narratives and the Way Forward for Pakistan. Experts on the subject matter were called as speakers, providing insight about the topic at hand, followed by a lively question and answer session with students from NUST university.

One of the most prominent takeaways from the conference was that there should be a focus on educating, legislating, and instilling responsibility for all internet users, considering them as potential tools available for both information and disinformation. Secondly, panelists stressed that the understanding and differentiation between misinformation, disinformation, and malformation must be developed. Government institutions must strive to convince the tech companies to provide data domains because presently, Pakistan is data-dependent, particularly in the context of India being the regional headquarters for a majority of social media websites. Lastly, it may be noted that not all disinformation and misinformation needs a response, and just avoiding the information vacuum would be a more intelligent option.

Key Speakers

Moeed Pirzada
Political Commentator, Geostrategic Analyst, and TV News Journalist; Host of “Hard Talk” on 92 News

Shahid Raza
Strategic Communications Specialist, Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA)

Dr. Hussain Nadim
Executive Director (Center for Research & Security Studies), Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI)

Dr. Najma Sadiq
Head of Department, Mass Communication, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST)

Dr. Talat Shabbir
Director, China-Pakistan Study Center, Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI)