- Consultations have been made in different phases: Prime Minister’s coordinator.
- Rana IHSAAN AFZAL highlights the deficiencies of the FIA when addressing the problem.
- A new authority says to have tors, own rules and regulations.
In the midst of concerns between several sections of society regarding the amendments proposed to the 2016 Electronic Crimes Prevention Law, the Federal Government has ruled out any misuse of the law while ensuring due process and the debate on the modification of controversial legislation.
“[This law] It won’t be misused [and if it is] Multiple forums will be available where [the misuse] It can be identified and the law can also be amended more [if needed]”The coordinator of Prime Minister Rana Ihsaan Afzal said while talking about PakGazette News’ ‘PakGazette Pakistan’ program on Thursday.
The official’s comments occur after the Federal Government presented amendments to the sin that lowered the term of the prison to three years from seven years to “intentionally disseminate false and false information.”
The draft of the Law of “Electronic Crimes Prevention (amendment), 2025” includes new definitions, the establishment of regulatory and investigative organisms, and strictest sanctions to disseminate “false” information.
“Who intentionally diffuses publicly or transmits any information through any information system, which he knows or has reasons to believe that they are false or false and probably cause or believe a feeling of fear, panic or disorder or disturbances in general or public or public or in general the company will be punished with imprisonment that can be extended up to three years or with a fine that can extend to RS2 million or with both, ”reads the amendment proposed to the controversial law, originally introduced by the Pakistan Muslim League -Nawaz (PML-N) of the government in 2016.
Suggesting the establishment of the regulatory authority and protection of social networks (SMPRA) with broad powers to block or eliminate the online content that is considered harmful to public security or state interests, the proposed adjustments, if approved, would allow An individual “destroyed by false and false information to address the authority to eliminate or block access to such information and the authority would issue orders no later than 24 hours in the application.
In addition, the authority, which will consist of a president and eight other members of which the Ministry of Interior of the Secretary, the President of the Electronic Media Authority of Pakistan (Pemra) and the president of the Telecommunications Authority of Pakistan (PTA ) or any member of PTA – PTA – may also require that any social media platform get ready with it in any way, form and in the payment of the rate that can be prescribed.
The draft also proposes to establish the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) and the Social Media Protection Court.
Fine tuning
Defending the adjustments suggested to the contentious law, the coordinator of the AFZAL Prime Minister said that the issue of the misuse of social networks is not a political problem, but in fact it affects hundreds of thousands who were victims of defamation.
Emphasizing the need to update the relevant laws, he said that a new authority was being established due to the problems within the Federal Research Agency (FIA) and its lack of ability to resolve people’s complaints in this domain.
“There is excessive erroneous information that violates people’s rights […] Will we allow the violation of the right of people to continue, “he questioned.
When asked about the role of the government, AFZAL said that it was the role of the Executive to appoint people and direct such bodies and, if severe failures arise, then they could be addressed and improved properly.
Answering a question about the apparently hurried approach and the lack of due consultations with the interested parties, the prime minister said that the bill did not appear in isolation and that the people were properly consulted and their contribution was before his.
“The consultations have been made in different phases,” he said.
When addressing the seemingly broad scope of what could be within the scope of the “erroneous information”, he said that when the relevant authority is established, there would be an additional adjustment, it will have its own terms of reference (tor), key performance indicators ( Kpi) and everything would be classified.
“This is a broader aspect, however, when an authority is established, then it would formulate its own rules and regulations,” he said.
Ensuring that due process will be followed and the proposed adjustments will be discussed, he said that the problem in question was a major problem, but political parties see it more closely.
“It’s not PTI versus PML-N [….] You have to satisfy the misuse of progress, modernization [in social media]”He said while regretting that artificial intelligence (AI) has exacerbated the situation.