This decision is welcomed by the Human Right Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). The HRCP has been opposing the DMW, because according to them the DMW only pursued the agenda of the PTI against its political opponents and they also used the states resources which were used to forward the agenda of the party including trolling of media-persons The newly appointed Minister of Information and broadcasting, Mariyum Aurangzeb, said that the PTI-established DMW had the PTI workers and they targeted the opposition and national institutions. Furthermore the minister added that the DMW was not needed as the cyber wing already existed in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. This decision was admired by the social media rights activists as now it would enhance checks on the misuse of digital media platforms by state entities. With this decision the ministry cyber wing will further get strengthened. The institution will remain intact even if the government changes. The executive director of the Digital Rights Foundation, Nighat Dad added that the bureaucracy will not indulge in any political point scoring. Nighat Dad further added that the cyber wing needs to be upgraded, innovative and has to keep up with the changing trends and have to keep pace with offices like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as to maintain a positive image of Pakistan abroad. Now the cyber wing is established in the information ministry and it will circulate government’s achievement and publicize their plan at social media platforms. The former general manager of DMW Imran Ghazali, resigned from his post soon after Shahbaz Sharif became the prime minister. 16 other employees of DMW whose contracts were to expire in August, are also planned to be laid off. The executive director of Media Matter for Democracy, Asad Baig has criticized the decision and said that DMW was an entity of the state and should have continued to operate like any other functionary entity. He has said that it would have been better if reforms and improvements were bought in the DMW rather than shutting it down. There is a dire need to have digitally literate set-up at the official level. He further added that outward communication of the country is limited and via the digital media it could have been improved. Pakistan has a small media and it is dominated by the Urdu medium and very few outlets in English. The Media Matter for Democracy executive director has further added that shutting down of any institution is never a good option. This mistake will be realized by the government later. Also Read: Staged Video Circulates on Social Media in an Effort to Defame Geo News
