Peshawar:
The Superior Court of Peshawar (PHC) has sought a response from the director of the Management Unit and Performance Reforms (PMRU) about a petition that challenges the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the Swabi Act to share a video of an event at Women University Swabi on the Tiktok social networks platform.
A division bank comprised of Judge Syed Arshad Ali and Judge Dr. Khurshid Iqbal listened to the request presented by the lawyer Muhammad Hamdan on Thursday. The petitioner informed the court that the DC attended multiple events, recorded videos and shared them in his personal Tiktok account instead of an official government platform.
He argued that while the government allows the use of platforms such as Facebook and Twitter for official communication, the use of Tiktok by public officials is not authorized and raises serious privacy concerns, particularly when said content presents people without their consent.
Judge Arshad Ali asked where Tiktok’s video was filmed. It was told to the court that the DC recorded the video during a ceremony at Women University Swabi and uploaded it from his personal account. The video included images of students, supposedly shared without their permission.
The lawyer Hamdan also argued that public officials are only allowed to share content through official government websites or verified accounts. At this point, Judge Arshad Ali questioned whether any departmental representative was present, to which the additional general defender replied that none was present.
Expressing concern, Judge Arshad Ali commented: “What is happening here? These officers have created pages for self -promotion. This is not for official use: it is the personal brand on social networks.”
After a brief break, the deputy director of PMRU appeared before the court. Judge Arshad Ali asked if PMRU had issued any notification that allowed such social media accounts and questioned the base on which each officer had begun their own pages and was sharing all kinds of content.
The court ordered PMRU to frame the standard operating procedures (SOP) and submit a detailed report within 10 days. Judge Arshad Ali also cited a recent case in which a district police officer used an inappropriate language regarding civil judges on social networks, emphasizing the need for regulation.
“The purpose of these accounts must be strictly official,” he emphasized. “We are monitoring everything. Videos with university students should not be shared online.” The audience was suspended until July 10, with clear instructions for PMRU to present its report before the next session.
