Both houses of Parliament have now passed legislation that criminalises fake news and its dissemination with a prison term of up to three years and a fine of up to Rs 2 million. It will become law once the President of Pakistan signs it and will amend the existing PECA (Prevention of Electronic Cybercrimes Act of 2016). In both the National Assembly and the Senate, the legislation was passed easily (newspapers reported it “sailed through”) despite vociferous protests of the PTI-led opposition and walkouts by journalists covering Parliament.
The chairman of the PPP, whose party is the largest component of the ruling alliance after the PML-N, has said that the government should have taken all stakeholders on board in the formulation and passage of the law, but the fact remains that his party has voted for it. Also, the final signature, which will make it law, will be from the President who is also from the PPP.
First, we need to have a detailed look at what the new legislation will set up. The first will be the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority – which will oversee social and digital media and have the power to have posts removed from social media platforms and also to have the platforms blocked if they fail to comply with the authority's directives regarding 'fake news' or a related matter falling under the PECA law. The SMPRA will have eight members, including the heads of PEMRA and PTA, the federal interior secretary, and five other members. As expected, the Authority will be bureaucrat-heavy and all its eight members will be federal government appointees, so they are likely to toe the policy of the federal government.
This is nothing but an attempt by the government and the state to finally collar and control the one medium that has eluded it all along: social and digital media
Apart from this, a Social Media Complaints Council comprising five members will be set up under the law. All its members, like that of the Authority, will be appointed by the federal government. All complaints made by citizens against “fake news” on social media or any similar complaint will be dealt with by the council.
Additionally, a Social Media Protection Tribunal will be set up, to be headed by a person “who has been or is qualified to be a judge of the High Court”. It will have the power to examine issues of non-compliance with the Authority’s directives and also to impose penalties including a prison term.
The legislation will also authorise the establishment of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency and once that is done, the Cybercrimes Wing of the FIA will cease to exist. This new agency will be tasked to investigate complaints that are made under the new law, and the presumption (since it is not explicitly stated in the new law) is that this will also include the investigation of complaints related to fake news.
Under the new law, any complaint relating to “fake news” on social or digital media will be dealt with by any of the following authorised bodies: the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority, the Social Media Complaints Council, the Social Media Protection Tribunal and the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency. All these bodies will be dominated by government officials and bureaucrats and all their members will be appointed by the federal government. Furthermore, the Federal Government will be the arbiter of what is ‘fake news’ and isn’t or what constitutes a post on, say, X/Twitter that is deemed derogatory and hence in violation of the new law.
While a sole journalist may be appointed a member of the authority or the complaints council, the fact that they will be dominated by federal government appointees, and given that the new law was more or less bulldozed through Parliament, and given that the responsibility and authority of who determines what is ‘fake news’ has been vested with the federal government, it should be clear as day that this is nothing but an attempt by the government and the state to finally collar and control the one medium that has eluded it all along: social and digital media.