A police officer was arrested in Karachi under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016 for using “derogatory remarks” against President Asif Ali Zardari, it emerged on Friday.

According to a first information report, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the station investigation officer (SIO) had posted a comment on Facebook wherein he used “derogatory remarks against the late prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband and President Zardari.”

The FIR, filed by Assistant Sub-Inspector Muhammad Yaqoob on April 2, said that the inappropriate remarks against the president were hurtful to him and the citizens of the country, adding that there was also a chance of such acts spreading across the country if left unchecked.

The FIR was registered under Section 21 of Peca 2016 and Section 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Peca, since its introduction in 2016, has been widely criticised as a “black law” created mainly to punish dissent. In the eight years since its enactment, it has been used extensively against politicians, journalists, rights activists, and even ordinary political workers.

The National Assembly in January passed a controversial amendment bill to the country’s cybercrime laws amid a walkout by PTI lawmakers and journalists from the proceedings.

Earlier this year, the administrator of a WhatsApp group in Punjab’s Pakpattan was arrested for allegedly violating Peca by permitting an insulting post targeting Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to be shared in the group.