Baghdad: The National Security Service announced on Wednesday that it had taken six measures to curb hate speech, noting that it had shut down 2,700 social media pages promoting terrorism, drugs, and the banned Baath Party, and foiled 750 cyberattacks during the first half of the current year.

According to Iraqi News Agency, the official spokesperson for the National Security Service, Arshad Al-Hakim, stated that one of the key issues being tackled by the National Security Service is hate speech, which poses a threat to societal peace and is prevalent on social media platforms. He emphasized that this type of discourse tends to become more active during religious occasions.

Al-Hakim explained that the National Security Service has implemented several measures to address hate speech. These measures include monitoring, tracking, blocking, obtaining judicial approvals, and executing technical efforts to determine the ownership of these pages. He outlined that these steps are sequential and involve coordination with the National Contact Point for further action.

He further highlighted that during the first half of the year, approximately 5,000 pages promoting terrorism, drugs, and the banned Baath Party were monitored. Some of these pages were involved in promotion, electronic and financial blackmail, and fraud, while others propagated hate speech and violence, all of which threaten societal peace.

Al-Hakim noted that nearly 2,700 pages have been shut down since the beginning of the year. There is a robust level of coordination with the National Contact Point, global companies, as well as with the Service’s judge in Baghdad and judges in the provinces, ensuring that work continues at full pace.

He also mentioned that over the past period, the Service successfully thwarted more than 750 cyberattacks targeting government websites in Iraq, which were detected and addressed effectively.