PESHAWAR: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz on Monday said the Information Department played a very important role of countering misinformation, fake news and propaganda.

He expressed these views during his visit to the Department of Information and Public Relations, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Information and Higher Education Kamran Bangash, KP Information Secretary Arshad Khan and Director General Information and Public Relations Imdadullah were also present on the occasion.

Shibli Faraz appreciated the Information and Public Relations Department for having a consolidated information system.

Launching an online advertising system to ensure transparency was the great achievement of the department and an important step towards the implementation of the government’s digitization policy, he added.

CM’s Special Assistant Kamran Bangash, while giving a detailed briefing to the federal minister, said practical steps were being taken to modernize the Information Department.

He said the integrated information system was effectively working to keep the public informed about the government’s activities and reforms in various departments.

Kamran Bangash said the Information and Public Relations Department had been playing an important role in giving authentic news to all media outlets, both print and electronic. It was also effectively countering all negative propaganda on digital media platforms, he added.

Shibli Faraz said the role of the Information Department was paramount to act as a bridge between the people and the government. It was its responsibility to provide timely and accurate information to the public.

He said the federal and provincial information departments could benefit from each other’s experiences.