An awareness roundtable conference on the impact of fake news, intolerance and extremist content on social media was organised at Ajwa Garden, Bahawalpur, under the auspices of the Media Cell for Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) of the Press Information Department.
The conference was jointly chaired by Director General PID Tahira Saeeda and Project Director Shahid Imran Ranjha. A large number of senior faculty members and students from the Department of Media Studies, Islamia University of Bahawalpur (IUB), attended the event.
Addressing the participants, senior faculty member of IUB, Dr Moazzam Khan Durrani, said fake news misleads public opinion and contributes to social instability. He stressed that in the current digital age, verification of information was not only the responsibility of students but of every citizen.
Dr Hanan Khan Tareen, also a faculty member of the Department of Media Studies, spoke in detail about the spread of fake news and the misuse of social media. Meanwhile, Dr Abida Naureen, Awais Gillani and Raza Majid emphasised the need to promote media literacy among youth to counter misinformation.
Participants unanimously agreed that journalists, educational institutions and social media users must play a collective role in curbing the menace of fake news.
DG PID Tahira Saeeda and Project Director Shahid Imran Ranjha responded to questions from students. At the conclusion of the conference, shields were presented to the distinguished speakers by the organisers.
