ShareFake news spreading on Whatsapp being monitored
QUETTA: Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician and head of the Pakistan Tehreek-i- Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan (C) prays along with others for Siraj Raisani, a candidate of provincial seat who was killed on July 13 suicide bombing in Mastung during an election campaign, during a press conference. — AFPISLAMABAD: A US-designated terrorist group has announced its support for Imran Khan and his party in nationwide elections on July 25, the latest controversial outfit to back the former cricket star's bid to lead the country. The Al Qaeda-linked Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) announced their support for Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in a Facebook post Tuesday along with a photo of the group's leader posing with a PTI candidate.
"Maulana Fazal ur Rehman Khalil along with hundreds of his followers have joined PTI and announced their support for its candidates," wrote PTI hopeful Asad Umar. Umar later edited the post saying Khalil and other clerics had only announced their support for PTI. A PTI spokesman also confirmed yesterday that Khalil was backing their party in elections but will not be joining their ranks officially as a party member.
Khalil, an Islamabad-based cleric, is accused by the United States of plotting terror attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India and of nurturing close links with Osama bin Laden, who was killed in Pakistan's northern city of Abbottabad during a raid by US special forces in 2011. The US State Department describes HuM as "a Pakistan-based terrorist organization that seeks the annexation of Kashmir into Pakistan and poses a direct risk to US, Afghan, and allied interests in Afghanistan".
Pakistan earlier this year amended its anti-terror laws to ban those listed as terrorists by the United Nations from running in elections. Former cricketer Khan-who led Pakistan to World Cup victory in 1992 -- has repeatedly called for holding talks with militants, earning him the moniker "Taleban Khan" in Pakistan. Khan was also lambasted by critics for entering into a political alliance earlier this year with Sami ul Haq-the so-called Father of the Taleban whose madrassas once educated Taliban supremos Mullah Omar and Jalaluddin Haqqani.
Fake news
The hugely popular WhatsApp messaging service began a week-long publicity campaign in Pakistan yesterday offering tips to spot fake news, days before the country holds a general election. "Together we can fight false information," says the full-page ad in Dawn, Pakistan's leading English-language daily, listing ten tips on differentiating rumors from fact.
"Many messages containing hoaxes or fake news have spelling mistakes. Look for these signs so you can check if the information is accurate," it says. "If you read something that makes you angry or afraid, ask whether it was shared to make you feel that way. And if the answer is yes, think twice before sharing it again."
WhatsApp also announced the implementation in the country of a new feature allowing recipients to see if a message is original or forwarded. The company had bought full-page advertising in India on July 10 after a wave of lynchings in the country were linked to viral "fake news" spread by WhatsApp about alleged child kidnappings. WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, had come under pressure from Indian authorities to put an end to the spread of rumors, which have caused the deaths of more than 20 people in the past two months.
Millions of people use WhatsApp in neighboring Pakistan, where rumors, false information and conspiracy theories are ubiquitous. Such messages spread quickly, with no real way for recipients to check their veracity. Pakistan also has a history of mob violence, and videos such as the murder of Mashal Khan -- a journalism student accused of blasphemy who was killed by a mob in April 2017 -- circulate rapidly. - AFP
