Members of PFUJ demonstrated protest rally from National Press Club to Parliament House, In which Islamabad Police takes action and beat the journalists, especially President PFUJ Afzal Butt.
But actually what is the reason behind the protest, let’s have a look:
At a time when Pakistan needs to take a hard look at how it regulates the internet, our government is proposing major changes to its cybercrime laws. These changes include the creation of four new organizations and the inclusion of vague and broad definitions of online harm. Under the new laws, people could face up to three years in prison for sharing ‘false or fabricated information’.
It is not surprising that the PECA amendment has been passed without consulting those representing the public. Making laws and policies should be a process where everyone has a say, including those who will be directly affected by the laws such as experts in the relevant fields, affected media workers and the youth who use the internet the most.
The amendment essentially brings all illegal internet-related activities that have been carried out since the introduction of the Cybercrime Act (PECA) by the PML-N government in 2016 under the purview of the law. These government measures were previously considered illegal.
First, the amendment broadens the definition of ‘complainant’ to include not only the person directly affected but also anyone who believes that a crime has been committed. It has also included ‘individuals but also organizations and government bodies’ in the definition of a complainant. This means that now, both groups and the government can use this law to take legal action against people.
Secondly, under this amendment, sharing ‘false or fabricated information’ is a crime. ‘If anyone knowingly disseminates information which is false and is likely to cause fear or unrest in the society, such a person can be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, a fine which may extend to two million rupees or both. This punishment is very worrying for freedom of expression as its definition is vague and can be easily misused.
The government will now have the power to decide what is truth and punish those who it believes are spreading lies. This is against Pakistan’s international commitments, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which sets out principles on freedom of expression, Article 19 of which stresses the need for laws to be clear, necessary and fair.
The third point of this amendment is that the government will have almost complete control over what happens on social media, meaning that the government has become judge, jury and executioner. There will be little accountability or scrutiny, which is very important in a democratic system. The amendment will create four new institutions, one of which is the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority.
This new institution will likely take over the responsibility of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in controlling internet content and will be required to follow government directives without question. While the PTA was intended to be autonomous and could choose whether to follow government orders or not, the new authority will only follow government orders. The PTA even argued in court that it was ordered by the Interior Ministry to block X, even though the law says it should have decided whether to block X or not. However, the head of this new authority will be appointed directly by the federal government.
A new Social Media Complaints Council will be created to collect public complaints regarding violations of PECA. In addition, a Social Media Protection Tribunal will handle appeals against the decisions of the new authority. However, instead of the usual appeals in the High Courts, appeals can be made directly to the Supreme Court.
This is against the right to a fair trial and due process under the Constitution of Pakistan (Article 10). The tribunal will consist of a retired High Court judge, a software engineer and a journalist. Given the complexity of the legal issues, it is unfair to leave these decisions to such a council when the right to appeal to the High Courts should remain intact.
In addition, the amendment will create a National Cybercrime Investigation Authority to take over the role of the cybercrime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). This comes nine years after the passage of PECA in 2016, when the existing institutions failed to meet expectations. The creation of new institutions could slow down the development process and make the system less effective in dealing with cybercrime under the law.
Fourth, the amendment gives the authority more power to decide what content is and is not illegal. In this regard, nine new categories have been added that were listed in Section 37 of the original PECA law. One of these categories includes content that ‘expresses violence’ against individuals such as the judiciary, the military, members of parliament or provincial assemblies. This will allow the authority to make multiple reports on social media platforms targeting citizens who are simply demanding accountability of government officials because they have the right to be held accountable as taxpayers and voters.
The amendment also requires social media platforms to register with the authority, meaning they must operate locally in Pakistan. If they do not comply with the authority’s censorship demands, the authority can block the platform entirely.
The PICA amendment and its further restrictions on expression are devastating for Pakistan.
