The federal government has set aside an extra Rs. 2 billion to fight the spread of false news that targets government agencies. This decision came from a meeting led by the Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.
The Finance Ministry announced that Rs. 1.945 billion of this money will go to the Ministry of Defence to help stop the spread of misleading information. Officials are increasingly worried about how fake news is being used on purpose to weaken government institutions for political gain.
The Army Chief, General Asim Munir, has emphasized the need to deal with this kind of propaganda and to hold those spreading it responsible.
During the meeting, it was shared that the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) plays a key role in addressing these false stories. ISPR needs to update its technology to better fight the sophisticated tools used in these disinformation campaigns.
The committee agreed to use Rs. 2 billion right away, with Rs. 1.22 billion for technology improvements and Rs. 723 million for strengthening cyber security. An ongoing yearly expense of Rs. 1.6 billion for these efforts will be added to the budget for the next fiscal year.