PTA urges responsible social media use amid 'prevailing sensitive situation'

• Inflammatory content can harm national interest, says PTA.
• Authority calls citizens to act with caution to maintain stability.
• PTA says citizens are encouraged to share authentic information. 
  

In view of the prevailing sensitive national situation, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Saturday urged all citizens to exercise responsibility when using social media and digital platforms.

All citizens are advised not to share, disseminate, forward, or upload any unverified, inflammatory, or misleading information and content that may directly or indirectly harm the national interest, public order, or state institutions, said a news release.

All citizens are encouraged to share, disseminate, forward, or upload information and content that is authentic and based on official sources, and to refrain from spreading rumours and fake news.

Sharing any fake news or information is liable to legal action in accordance with applicable laws.

The PTA called upon all citizens to act with caution, maturity, and a strong sense of national responsibility to help, maintain stability and public confidence.

The development came amid ongoing border clashes between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban regime, with the fighting entering its third day on Saturday.

The neighbouring countries entered an "open war" after Pakistan retaliated with full force after the Taliban regime resorted to unprovoked firing along multiple sectors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), including Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram, and Bajaur on Thursday night.

In their retaliatory attacks named Operation Ghazab lil-Haq (Righteous Fury), Pakistan's armed forces destroyed several key Afghan Taliban posts, while the PAF conducted strikes in Kandahar, Kabul, and Paktia, causing heavy losses on the Afghan side.

As many as 12 security personnel embraced martyrdom and 27 sustained injuries during the retaliatory response, while 331 Afghan Taliban have been killed so far, as per Pakistani authorities

A day earlier, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar later said in an update that 297 elements of the Afghan Taliban regime were killed in Operation Ghazab Lil Haq.