Islamabad, Nov 21: Chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), Allama Raghib Naeemi, clarified his earlier remarks on Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), attributing the controversy to a typographical error.
He assured everyone that the council never declared VPNs un-Islamic or ‘haram.’
The clarification followed a CII statement that mistakenly labeled VPN usage as un-Islamic, prompting the Ministry of Interior to direct the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to block unregistered VPNs. Consequently, PTA blocked several VPN services.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Allama Naeemi highlighted the misuse of social media for blasphemy, sectarianism, or extremism as unacceptable. He stated, “If such violations occur, social media use may indeed become un-Islamic.”
He explained that a typographical error in the issued statement caused the misunderstanding by omitting the word “not.”
Emphasizing responsible social media usage, he urged the public to avoid activities that incite hatred, terrorism, or religious intolerance.
