Changes to Peca law may further tighten govt’s grip on Pakistan’s digital landscape, warns Amnesty

Amnesty International has warned that the recently proposed changes to the country’s cybercrime laws could “further tighten the government’s grip over Pakistan’s heavily controlled digital landscape” if enacted into law.

The statement came on Friday after a controversial bill seeking to amend the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) was presented in the Senate amid a strong protest by the PTI-led opposition and a walkout by journalists from the press gallery.

Journalists have assailed the legislation as an “attack on freedom of expression”, while the PTI has accused the PPP, an ally of the ruling coalition, of hypocrisy, slamming its support for the bill.

In a statement, Babu Ram Pant, the deputy regional director of campaigns for Amnesty’s South Asia chapter, said: “The latest amendment to the draconian Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) by the National Assembly will further tighten the government’s grip over Pakistan’s heavily controlled digital landscape, if passed by both houses of Parliament.”

Pant noted that the amendment “introduces a criminal offence against those perpetrating so-called ‘false and fake information’ and imposes a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment with a fine”.

“The vague and ambiguous framing of some elements of the offence together with a history of the Peca being used to silence dissent raises concerns that this new offence will chill what little is left of the right to online expression in the country,” the Amnesty official warned.

He further said that the legislation was “presented in the absence of any consultation or debate”, adding that it expanded the powers “previously available to the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority through the newly created Social Media Regulation and Protection Authority”.

“These provisions grant authorities power to block and remove content based on vague criteria, which will violate the right to freedom of expression and fail to meet standards of proportionality and necessity under international human rights law,” Pant further said.

He added that Amnesty called on the authorities to “immediately withdraw the bill and instead engage in a meaningful consultative process with civil society to amend Peca to bring it in line with international human rights law”.

The latest draft of changes to the Peca law was passed by the National Assembly on Thursday amid a walkout from journalists. The Senate yesterday referred it to its relevant standing committee.

The Amnesty official also compared the proposed changes to Peca with the Digital Nation Pakistan Bill, passed by the NA on Thursday.

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.

“These developments are in step with deployment of intrusive digital surveillance technologies and laws such as the Digital Nation Pakistan Bill, that fail to incorporate any human rights safeguards,” Pant said.

HRCP expresses deep concern

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said it was deeply concerned by the NA passing the Peca bill, noting it would curb fundamental rights.

In a press release today, the HRCP stated: “Given the state’s poor record on protecting freedom of digital expression, the bill, if it becomes law, is likely to become yet another means of targeting political workers, human rights defenders, journalists and dissidents by effectively penalising criticism of state institutions.”

The rights body termed the bill’s emphasis in Section 26-A on ‘fake or false news’ as “troubling”.

“The text of the bill does not satisfactorily define ‘fake news’ and instead refers to vague outcomes such as public ‘fear, panic or disorder or unrest’. Moreover, the prescribed punishment of up to three years’ imprisonment is excessive,” the HRCP stressed.

Noting the formation of four new authorities to regulate digital content, the HRCP said it would impose “disproportionate multi-layered controls” and have a “chilling effect on freedom of expression and opinion”.

“The fact that appeals to the proposed Social Media Protection Tribunal will go directly to the Supreme Court and that this tribunal will comprise government-appointed members is also cause for concern because it implies diminished judicial oversight and greater executive control,” it further said.

“HRCP reminds the government that digital freedoms have already been over-regulated, whether through law or policy, to the detriment of people’s right to information and connectivity, both of which are integral to a twenty-first-century democracy.”

It demanded that the bill “must be debated openly and extensively in the Senate before it proceeds any further”.

Proposed changes to Peca

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.

Section 26(A) stated: “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.”

The bill also suggests dissolving the FIA’s Cybercrime Wing and setting up a new National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) to investigate illegal activities on social med­ia.

It further proposes the establishment of the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority (SMPRA), which would perform a range of functions related to social media such as education, awareness, training, regulation, enlistment, blocking and more.

According to the bill, the SMPRA chairman will have the power to order the immediate blocking of any unlawful content on social media, while the authority will have the power to block content that contradicts the ideology of Pakistan or incites citizens to break the law.

It will also be authorised to block unlawful content targeting members of the judiciary, armed forces, parliament or provincial assemblies. Content deleted during parliamentary proceedings cannot be reuploaded on social media.

The amendment also proposes the establishment of a Social Media Complaint Council. In cases where social media platforms fail to comply with directives, the authority will have the power to approach the tribunal for enforcement.

The federal government will also establish a Social Media Protection Tribunal to enforce the provisions of the amended act.