February 25, 2019: CODE PAKISTAN held a roundtable discussion with the civil society in Islamabad for a visiting delegation of Facebook led by Dr. Erin Marie Saltman, Facebook’s Policy Manager on Counterterrorism and CVE for Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Other members of the visiting Facebook delegation were Facebook’s Ms. Maggie, and Facebook’s Policy Manager for Pakistan Ms. Sehar Tariq.
The aim of the roundtable discussion was to provide Pakistani civil society with an opportunity to interact with Facebook\’s team and learn about their approach toward and tools for dealing with violent extremism and to deliberate on the efforts of Pakistani civil society in CVE. The discussion focused on the role of civil society groups in CVE in Pakistan, effectiveness of the Government of Pakistan’s efforts at CVE, the extent to which the governments has been able to strike a balance between CVE and ensuring freedom of expression, and the need for an interface between the civil society groups and various other relevant stakeholders to pool in their efforts at CVE.
Other participants of the discussion were Adeel Jafferi, DAI Pakistan; Afeera Firdous, Centre for International Strategic Studies (CISS); Aiza Azam, Centre for Strategic & Contemporary Research (CSCR); Ali Hameed, Shaoor Foundation for Education & Awareness; Azhar Ali Shah, AGAHI; Bilal Sherpao, DAI Pakistan; Daniyal Hassan, Lawyer; Imran Wazir, ABM Info Tech Private Ltd.; Ismail Khan, PIPS; Jamal Aziz, RSIL; Khawaja Mohammad Ali, Cyber Security Expert; Mohammad Alee, SIL; Puruesh Chaudhary, AGAHI; Syed Suhail Tirmizi, CEO Tier 3; Waleed Javed, SIL; Yusra Qadir, UNDP; Zeeshan Salahuddin, Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS); Hijab Siddiqui, RSIL; Umer Khan, The Gulf Directory, CPSD; and Mr. Attaullah Khan, Lawyer. The session was moderated by Founder of CODE PAKISTAN Mr. Dilawar Khan and team CODE PAKISTAN also participated in the discussion.