Security committee formed to monitor online speech

BAGHDAD — A committee drawn entirely from Iraq’s security services will monitor online content for hate speech and material with ethnic, racial or sectarian themes, the Security Media Cell chief said.

Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi approved it in his capacity as commander-in-chief, Lt. Gen. Saad Maan said, and it will be chaired by the Security Media and Public Relations Authority in the Office of the Commander-in-Chief. Its members come from the Interior Ministry, the National Intelligence Service, the National Security Service, the Information Operations Center and technical directorates within security institutions.

The committee will review speeches and publications authorities believe could incite sectarian or ethnic tension or spread hate speech and “take necessary measures under existing law,” operating “within the approved legal frameworks,” Maan said, with the aim of strengthening monitoring while preserving social stability.