IT is some comfort that some lawmakers have at least taken notice. Last week, the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting formally sought the details of FIRs lodged against journalists under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, as well as the reasoning behind each case. It was informed, during its meeting the same day, that a total of 689 cases had been registered under Peca since it was amended in January, including nine against journalists. An interior ministry representative told the committee that one journalist was among those arrested so far under the controversial law, while seven journalists were not in the country at the moment. It may be recalled that, earlier this year, there had been large-scale protests and demonstrations against the aforementioned Peca amendments, as the fear had been that the law would be weaponised against journalists. As in the case of many other legislative efforts of the government, time has eventually justified the critics’ worst fears.
Some weeks ago, an Islamabad judge ordered the blocking of 27 YouTube channels under Peca on the vague pretext that they were involved in “fake, misleading and defamatory” content. That order was partially suspended after a district and sessions court learnt that the operators of these YouTube channels had never been given prior notice, which had violated their constitutional right to a fair trial and due process. Earlier in March, two journalists, one from Karachi and one from Islamabad, were arrested and jailed in deeply controversial circumstances over posting or sharing ‘anti-state’ content. One was arrested following detention for hours after being called in to answer questions by the FIA, while the other was simply ‘disappeared’ before being announced as arrested. The pattern has been evident: the state has been using Peca to spread fear and silence critics. The law must continue to be questioned at all forums and from all perspectives. Lawmakers must contribute a part in this.
Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2025
