The National Assembly on Thursday passed a controversial amendment bill to the country’s cybercrime laws amid a walkout by PTI lawmakers and journalists from the proceedings.
The latest draft of changes to the cybercrime laws, seen by Dawn.com and titled “The Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Bill, 2025”, was tabled in the National Assembly a day ago by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and referred to the standing committee.
Journalists staged a walkout today from the press gallery in protest of the bill’s passage after it was presented by Federal Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain.
Lawmakers from the opposition Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl also opposed the bill.
The National Assembly also passed“The Digital Nation Pakistan Bill, 2024“ which was moved by Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja. The bill aims to create a digital identity for citizens — to centralise social, economic and governance data — and to provide for the transformation of Pakistan into a digital nation, enabling a digital society, digital economy and digital governance.
The PTI lawmakers had already walked out earlier after protesting against party founder Imran Khan’s incarceration and saying they would not allow the house’s proceedings to go ahead.
The bill, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, proposes a new provision, Section 26(A), to Peca, to penalise perpetrators of “fake news” online, that said: “Whoever intentionally disseminates, publicly exhibits, or transmits any information through any information system, that he knows or has reason to believe to be false or fake and likely to cause or create a sense of fear, panic or disorder or unrest in general public or society shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend upto three years or with fine which may extend to Rs2m or with both.”
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It also proposes the establishment of the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority which would perform a range of functions related to social media such as education, awareness, training, regulation, enlistment, blocking and more.
It said that anyone “aggrieved by fake and false information” would be able to approach the authority to remove or block access to the content in question, adding that the authority would issue orders no later than 24 hours after the request.
The changes propose that the authority might require any social media platform to enlist with it in any manner, form and on payment of such fee as may be prescribed.
It added that apart from the requirements of the act, additional conditions or requisites as deemed appropriate might also be stipulated while enlisting a social media platform.
The bill outlined that the authority would have the power to issue directions to a social media platform for removal or blocking of online content if it was against the ideology of Pakistan, etc.; incited the public to violate the law, take the law in own hands, with a view to coerce, intimidate or terrorise public, individuals, groups, communities, government officials and institutions; incited the public or section of the public to cause damage to governmental or private property.
It added: “Coerced or intimidated the public or section of the public and thereby prevented them from carrying on their lawful trade and disrupted civic life; incited hatred and contempt on religious, sectarian or ethnic basis to stir up violence or cause internal disturbance.
I said that the law will be applicable if the reported content “contained anything obscene or pornographic in contravention of any applicable law; was known to be fake or false or there existed sufficient reasons to believe that the same may be fake or false beyond a reasonable doubt; contained aspersions against any person, including members of the judiciary, armed forces, parliament or a provincial assembly; or promoted and encouraged terrorism and other forms of violence against the state or its institutions.
The bill also proposes that any part of parliamentary proceedings or those of the provincial assemblies that was ordered expunged would not be streamed or made available for viewing on social media platforms in any manner with every effort made to release a fair account of the proceedings.
“The statements of proscribed organisations or their representatives or members thereof shall not be streamed or made available for viewing on social media platforms in any manner,” the changes proposed.
They further said social media platforms would maintain an effective and transparent procedure for handling complaints about unlawful or offensive online content, adding that they would also supply users with an easily recognisable, directly accessible and permanently available procedure for submitting complaints about unlawful or offensive online content.
The bill additionally proposes the constitution of a Social Media Complaint Council to receive and process complaints made by aggrieved parties against violation of any provision of the cybercrime law.
The changes said that in case of any violation, the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority would approach the Social Media Protection Tribunal which would decide all cases in 90 days.
Journalists’ bodies, activists assail Peca amendments
Journalists’ bodies slammed the Peca amendments in separate statements.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC), a body representing journalists’ rights groups, including the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), issued a joint statement condemning the amendment.
“The Joint Action Committee … rejected any PECA amendments that are passed or approved without consultation with media bodies,” the statement read.
“JAC and its members have not been shared with any draft as yet. Before studying the draft none of the JAC members are in a position to comment on the proposed amendments.”
The JAC requested that the government not pass any amendments to the bill “without proper consultation with all stakeholders”.
In a separate statement, PFUJ Dastoor President Haji Muhammad Nawaz Raza and Secretary General AH Khanzada termed the amendments an “attack on freedom of expression”, adding that they violated the Constitution and were rejected by the journalist community.
“Such amendments aim to suppress the freedom of the media, especially social media,” the statement reads.
“The government should come to its senses and immediately withdraw the undemocratic and unnecessary amendment, otherwise journalists across Pakistan will protest vigorously.”
The statement added that Peca was a “black law”, saying that “if this is a democratic government, then it should refrain from it.”
The Karachi Press Club (KPC) issued a statement strongly condemning the Peca amendments, calling them a “threat to freedom of expression”.
According to the statement, KPC officials said that Article 19 of the Constitution guaranteed the right to freedom of expression and that instead of suppressing it, “the government should empower the mainstream media to report accurate news in real time, thus combatting fake news on social media.”
“The information minister had assured that all stakeholders would be consulted on the law before it was passed, but on the contrary, the government got these laws passed in a hurry and the draft had not been shared with journalists’ organisations,” the statement apparent.
“It is apparent that the government is attempting to silence the media under the guise of fake news,” the KPC continued. “Due to announced censorship on mainstream media, fake news is able to spread on social media.”
The KPC added that journalists’ organisations also had reservations about “fake news” but stressed that all stakeholders needed to be included in the legislative process.
It also urged the government to withdraw the “black law” immediately and to consult all stakeholders, media bodies and civil society representatives before implementing any laws.
The Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) also strongly condemned the recent amendments and said limited the freedom of expression.
It added that the practice of suppressing voices was intolerable, especially in civilised societies, and the union protested any attempt to suppress freedom of expression under any circumstances, demanding that the government withdraw the bill
as soon as possible.
Dawn correspondent Nadir Guramani, present at the scene, said the Parliamentary Reporters Association staged a walkout against the bill’s passage today after being tabled only a day ago.
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Digital rights activist Farieha Aziz termed the passage an “attempt to further control access to information and limit expression under the garb of fake news”, adding that “the manner in which legislation is being bulldozed goes to show it is all a numbers game”.
Digital rights activist and human rights lawyer Nighat Dad told Dawn.com that the passage came as a “shock and surprise”.
“We knew there was some draft out there but it was never made public to stakeholders,” she said, adding that the final draft of the changes “suddenly came out of nowhere” which meant that they were being kept out of the loop while the amendments were being drafted.
Dad said the bill should not have been passed since it was “controversial”, explaining that the new powers in the bill were “broad and ambiguous”.
She also questioned the definition provided for false and fake information, asking what were the parameters used for the endeavour since not even any global authority had come up with a working definition.
Usama Khilji, director of digital rights advocacy forum Bolo Bhi, said the amendments “make a bad law worse by adding a vague and broad definition of disinformation and criminalising it, causing a chilling effect on journalists and social media users who may be persecuted for criticising state policies as we have seen abuse of such allegations in the past”.
He said that creating four new bodies and empowering them to block social media platforms and “strong-arming them to censor content, including speech that ‘casts lesion on officials of the judiciary, armed forces, and parliaments’” effectively turned the country into a “dictatorship where taxpayers and voters cannot criticise those working in public service”.
Criticising the procedure of appeals laid down in the bill, he said allowing appeals to the tribunal’s decision only in the Supreme Court removed one level of appeal at the high court and thus violated the rights of due process.
“This amendment must be legally challenged and the courts must strike it down if we are to remain a constitutional democracy.”
Working journalists are safe: Attaullah Tarar
Addressing reporters at the press gallery in Parliament House, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar emphasised that the bill sought to regulate social media and would not target “working journalists”.
The minister stated that working journalists were those registered with the press club and not “someone who just pulls out their phone and says whatever they wish”.
“For the first time, we have defined what social media is. Any online platform or web application that transmits information is social media,” he clarified. “For electronic media and print media, there are systems already in place through Pemra’s council of complaints.”
Tarar maintained that the bill was introduced for digital media and “increased space” for TV channels and print media.
The minister continued: “Anyone who is a working journalist will not be affected by this bill. This bill has been put forward because the FIA (federal investigation agency) does not have the capacity to counter child pornography and deepfakes.”
Tarar said that the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency would be formed but it would take time to establish a set of rules for the nascent body.
He added that the Digital Rights Protection Authority, which is also being formed, established that a journalist must be registered with a press club.
“How is it just if salaries are falling in media houses, newspapers are falling out of circulation and the media regulator is losing strength while a vlogger earns dollars and doesn’t have to pay tax?” Tarar questioned.
“Where is the justice when a parallel economy is running? Comment, give commentary and critique, but I have laid out the facts.”
Tarar asserted that the bill was not draconian, reiterating that there was no definition for social media before. “You cannot just put anything on digital media without consequences,” he said, adding that if a speaking order was not issued within 24 hours of cognisance of an offence, then it would not proceed.
“This is not an overnight process and we are willing to consult stakeholders when forming this authority and the agency,” Tarar said. “I invite all journalists’ bodies to sit down and discuss, but I urge them to read the bill and determine whether the bill aims to protect or target journalists.”
The minister reiterated that electronic media was regulated by the Pemra Council of Complaints.
“This bill is only for digital media where there is no regulation on what can be disseminated and there is freelance work without any editorial control or rules of conduct,” he clarified. “Working journalists will be able to perform their jobs better and the space for electronic and digital media will increase.”
Additional reporting by Imtiaz Ali.