ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: President Dr Arif Alvi has cautioned that extra care was required to combat the emerging threat of fake news, which, he added, had traces in history that led to disastrous consequences.
Talking to a delegation of APNS Executive Committee at Aiwan-i-Sadr in Islamabad last night, the president said that in recent years, fake news have gained momentum and dented the credibility of news.
The president said that media had a very important role to play in connecting, informing, and educating people for the common cause of national development and social change.
Talking about the importance of emerging technologies and its usages, he said that unless a nation was equipped with modern technologies including the emerging concept of artificial intelligence, dream of becoming a progressive and developed Country could not be achieved.
The president expressed his gratitude to media community for their support on his initiative on artificial intelligence which, he added, would bring sea-change in the overall thinking pattern of researchers and scientists.
Expressing strong resolve for addressing vital social issues, Dr Arif Alvi said that his Office will continue to play its constitutional role for bringing social change in the Country. He said that issues such as malnutrition, infant mortality, population growth, and women’s right to inheritance need to be addressed in a more prudent manner to get the desired results in the shortest possible time.
President Arif Alvi also mentioned that his initiative of artificial intelligence had gained significant success in Karachi and keeping in mind the need to further spread it to other parts of the Country, the same program had also been launched in Islamabad and Faisalabad.
Talking about his recent meeting with the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, the president said that it was a very fruitful meeting that entails a lot of hopes for bringing peace in the region and Pakistan would fully support peace process in Afghanistan and actively contribute for its rebuilding.
Earlier, the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan said that the guidance and the patronage of the President Dr. Arif Alvi had always been very encouraging, which augurs well for the development of media in Pakistan.
The APNS delegation expressed their gratitude to President Dr Arif Alvi for his constant support to the media community in the country. It was the responsibility of the media community to fact-check news for accuracy before disseminating it to curb the trend of fake news, they elaborated.
