 "Pakistan cracks down on sectarian hatemongers on social media")
**Islamabad:**Pakistan has ordered strict actionagainst anyone propagating religious sectarianism throughsocial media or mobile phones in the wake of a series ofrecent sectarian clashes in the country.
The federal government has asked the Ministry ofInformation Technology and the Federal Investigation Agency(FIA) to monitor social media for controversial statementsthat could lead to sectarian conflicts and to take measuresagainst those who spread such content.
The government also asked the FIA to investigate the issueand ordered them to take action against people involved inspreading such statements, Express Tribune reported.
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The move came after sectarian violence in the garrisoncity of Rawalpindi left 10 people dead and over 80 injuredduring the Ashura procession on November 15.
A curfew imposed in the area was lifted earlier today.It was noticed that many pictures of alleged victims weredoing the rounds on social media.Some of these pictures were also used during earlierincidents that have taken place abroad.
Many banned groups have social media accounts, throughwhich they spread hate speeches, specifically against Ahmadisand Shia Muslims.
Earlier this year in October, the Sindh government hadannouncedit would ban instant messaging andVoice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) clients Skype, Viber andother communication networks as terrorists were reportedlyusing them to plot attacks.
However, the ban could not go ahead as the federalgovernment had refused to approve it.
PTI