Lahore district courts direct Facebook to release details of 'fake accounts' allegedly defaming Ali Zafar

Lahore's district court has directed Facebook and Instagram to release details of 'fake accounts' allegedly involved in defaming musician Ali Zafar.

In TV appearances last week, Ali Zafar claimed that after singer Meesha Shafi accused him of sexual harassment in April 2018, she launched a smear campaign on social media against him.

He said that 'fake accounts' are posting lies about him and that he will request FIA's cyberbullying unit to investigate the matter.

According to a court order (a copy of which is available with Images), the FIA's Cyber Crime Circle in Lahore has completed initial inquiry into the matter and have named Instagram accounts sanasamir91, sallzjay22 and deeenz82 as committing offenses punishable under Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016 by "uploading [Ali Zafar's] personal pictures with obnoxious/defamatory content to damage his repute in family and society."

The Lahore district court has therefore asked Facebook to provide the basic subscriber data associated with the accounts, along with their IP logs.