Pakistan
Govt bans employees from communicating via social media
Government employees cannot say anything on the media or social media that affects the reputation of the government
Islamabad: The government has stopped government employees from communicating through social media platforms.
According to the instructions issued by the Establishment Division, government employees cannot make any statement on any media platform without the permission of the government. In addition, public servants are also prohibited from sharing official information with any unauthorised person or the media.
According to the post, government employees cannot say anything on the media or social media that affects the reputation of the government. Public servants will not be allowed to speak against government policies and the integrity of the country.
The post further said that government employees cannot make statements affecting relations with other countries. They will not be allowed to give neutral opinions in any discussion on social media.
Government institutions should continuously monitor to remove objectionable content from their social media platforms and ensure implementation of all Federal Secretary, Additional Secretary, Heads of Departments, and Chief Secretaries directives.
In the letter, the government employees were told that if any government employee violated these instructions, strict action would be taken against him.
The government said that these guidelines are not meant to ban positive use of social media but to prevent disclosure of official secrets and damage to the government's reputation.