Pakistan has presented seven proposals to deal with Islamophobia, fake news and other issues in the 12th OIC Ministers of Information Conference held in Istanbul, Turkey on October 21-22, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Federal Minister of Information Maryam Aurangzeb while addressing the conference emphasised developing an impartial and independent information delivery system in Muslim countries to combat disinformation and Islamophobia.   

The Ministers of Information of fifty-seven countries and high-ranking officials are attending the conference.

Maryam Aurangzeb said there is a need to deal with the misconceptions being spread within Muslim countries about Islam and Muslim society.

She added that disinformation about the teachings of Islam and the identity of Muslims is being spread through deliberate control over information.

“The approval of the resolution by the United Nations General Assembly to celebrate the International Day against Islamophobia on March 15 is a big step”, she hinted.

Maryam said,” We have to counter fake news with real news. A strategy has to be developed to counter the trending methods of social media with modern technology”, she suggested.

Information Minister said that there is a need to unify and harmonize the flow of information in Muslim countries. “By adding collective political and economic pressure, it is possible to protect the rights of the Muslim minority around the world”, she said, adding that we propose to fight the monopolization and colonialism of knowledge and information in this regard.

The focus should be on further promotion of democracy, greater public participation, increased collectivism and freedom of expression, Maryam said.

She urged that sensitive but globally prominent topics should be our target, which are used against Muslim countries with false and misleading intentions.

“We have to pave the way for the interpretation of the real sentiments of the people, and deal with the manipulation of public opinion by robots”, she added.