UNAMA Featured Photos: The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) today called for the responsible use of social media platforms, particularly in relation to the country’s ongoing electoral process. “There has been a disturbing tone in some social media platforms, and we urge supporters of the candidates in the Afghan Presidential elections to refrain from inflammatory statements, hate speech or statements which promote divisive ethnic mobilization,” the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of UNAMA, Ján Kubiš, said in a news release. He noted that that everyone has a right to their own views and opinions and to express these on social media, “which can be a valuable tool in helping generate enthusiastic debate and encourage public participation,” but that using these platforms for “communication in ways which could increase tensions or incite violence is not conducive to the historic electoral process currently underway.” In Afghanistan, some 1.7 million people are currently using social media tools – primarily Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Google-Plus. Around 2.4 million Afghans have access to the Internet through various means such as Internet stores, while 19 million people use mobile phones for which five telecommunication companies provide services, and of these, four provide 3G services. Also today, a meeting of an umbrella body of Afghan journalists, the Afghan National Journalists’ Union, endorsed a resolution that asked media organizations and journalists to avoid in their reporting any biases on the basis of race, ethnicity, political and sectarian inclinations and focus solely on the right of the public to information.
Posted on: Sun, 22 Jun 2014 12:44:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015