PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council has decided to take action against unauthorised social media activity, fake accounts and unprofessional content being shared in the name of bar associations.
It has directed administrators of lawyers’ digital platforms to remove unrelated members and delete any posts or material that violate the Bar Council’s Strike and Media Regulation Rules, 2022. The move came after Peshawar High Court Bar Association (PHCBA) President Aminur Rahman Yousafzai drew the council’s attention to social media platforms being operated in the names of bar associations without proper authorisation.
Following a meeting of the Bar Council’s executive committee, Secretary Syed Sajidullah issued a letter stating that several private WhatsApp groups were operating under the names of different bar associations across the province without official approval.
The committee directed administrators of such groups to immediately register them with the respective bar associations and provide complete details of their administrators to the Bar Council office. Administrators were also ordered to remove unrelated individuals from the groups and delete posts, messages and other material found to be in violation of the Bar Council Strike and Media Regulation Rules, 2022.
The council warned that further violations could lead to legal and disciplinary action against both the lawyer responsible for sharing unauthorised content and the administrator of the concerned WhatsApp group.
The latest move is aimed at ensuring that digital platforms operating in the name of bar associations are used for legitimate professional communication and do not become a source of misinformation, unauthorised statements or activities that could undermine the discipline of the legal community.
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