PECA Act Amended: The substantive amendment that was made before this was made in 2023; every party has used it for its revengeful activities when in power, and the hypocrisy of standing with media or freedom of speech has been uncovered with time. Those parliamentarians who say that they are progressive parties support it, and these days they are also giving speeches in the assemblies on the issue of the internet, but they have never put forward such an explanation that this is particularly horrifying; substantive structural changes are also being made in it.
In the guise of fake news, more offenses are being created, the federal government is being further empowered, so this whole trend of executive capture is being seen here also, and the parliament is rubber-stamping it, and they have approved this bill instantly.
Whatever is illegal online, according to the executive in particular, would be held accountable, and we all could assume what that would be. Plus It can be anti-Islamic again according to the Islam of executives; it can also include reports in favor of Pakistan or in defense as per the liking of the power holders; it can also be against the legal institutions that are divine in Pakistan. Who will define it according to this law? Whether what has been said is against any institution or not? How do we define it?
The puppet minister in charge says that we are creating a Digital Rights Protection Authority, and the authority that has been created within the law is called the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority; that is, it was a formality of digital rights, or it was an attempt to say that just as these people are protecting your and my rights, God forbid, then in that ending the formalities, it was directly made the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority. Well, then there is a chapter, there is a sub-article chapter, which is a complete act that creates this authority. Usually in normal drafting, when you are making such authorities of common seal, you make a separate act in its name, but if you had done that, then you would have got this act done. So that was also added in this act.
Apart from that, gradually expanding the definitions, it is said that government will promote technology in the country and will work on education and research and innocently a clause was added that regulate enlistment of social media platforms. That is, under this amended sub-clause, so now they will be able to register and enlist all the social media platforms that are in Pakistan. It has also been done under PEMRA that if there is something against the sentiments of the nation or the dignity of the country, then we also take that into consideration and when our courts used to be independent before 26th amendments, then they have struck it down on the basis that Article 19 of the Constitution which gives the right to freedom, you could not impose any further penalty on it through law which is Sharia in it that there should not be any statement against Islam, there should not be any talk of waging war, there should not be any hate speech, apart from that you cannot impose any further penalty, but the strike down imposed in PECA, the strike down imposed in PEMRA, so now they have made through amendments in PECA thinking that now there are probably no courts left, apart from permission of the executives. There is enlistment and which Power to direct social media platform as I said then Social Media Protection Tribunal has been formed now within this law there is a separate Social Media Protection Authority was saying, then a social media complaint council is formed which will sit and listen to complaints from people of all over the world, whether something has happened against us or not, then a tribunal is formed for it which will sit and decide whether something has happened against us or not and then obviously how can any law come in Pakistan without punishment, so a punishment is made that if you have intentionally distributed such news which is fake, and you know that it is fake news, or you have reason to believe that it is fake, then you will go to jail for 3 years, and you will be fined two million rupees or both and the FIA was not enough to investigate all this, so they have formed the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency, another police level discipline force has been formed, its head will be the Director General, and he will have power equal to the IG of Police. If you get it, then one more structure of control has come on your head and all the cases from FIA will go to this NCCIA when it is formed. As the already existing law enforcing agencies are not enough to control us, and we need another group of oppressors.
Now, if an allegation is made against you that you have said something that, in their opinion, comes under the purview of this law, then you will keep proving this for six to eight months of your life, at least every week or two weeks, while going to the hearing that I was not intentionally disseminating, and I did not know that this is fake news. Now when you make such a law, now they will go into your mind and make you believe that you knew, or you had reason to believe that this is fake, that is, these laws that are made to hang swords on your and my heads.
So much struggle just to legitimize oppression, anarchy, and dictatorship so the veil of a democratic nation could be held? We could just simply demolish parliaments, courts and all other institutions that heavily burden our economy and could simply declare the state as a dictator-led or an institution-held state of executives that saves money, and we wouldn’t have to pretend.