- The consultations took place in different phases: PM coordinator.
- Rana Ihsaan Afzal underlines the FIA gaps to solve this problem.
- Said that the new authority must have reference terms, its own rules and regulations.
In the midst of concerns of various strata of the company concerning the amendments proposed to the 2016 law on the prevention of electronic crimes (PECA), the federal government excluded any abusive use of the law while ensuring regular procedure and a debate on the modification of controversial legislation.
“”[This law] will not be used badly [and if it is] several forums will be available where [the misuse] can be identified and the law can also be changed more [if needed]”said Prime Minister Coordinator Rana Ihsaan Afzal during an interview on PK Press Club News’ program ‘PK Press Club Pakistan’ Thursday.
The manager’s remarks are intervened after the federal government has filed amendments to PECA reducing prison sentence from seven years to three years for “intentional dissemination of false information”.
The project entitled “Law of 2025 on the prevention of electronic crimes (amendment)” includes new definitions, the creation of regulatory and investigation organizations and more strict sanctions in the event of the dissemination of “false” information.
“Anyone who disseminates, publicly exposes or intentionally transmits any information through an information system, whether he knows or has reasons to believe that she is false or false and likely to cause or create a feeling of Fear, panic or disorder or agitation in the general public or “society will be punished with a prison sentence of up to three years or a fine of up to 2 million rupees or The two “, we read in the amendment proposed to the controversial law, initially introduced by the Muslim League of Pakistan-Nawaz (PML-N). Government in 2016.
Suggesting the creation of an authority for protecting and regulating social media (SMPRA) with extended powers to block or remove online content deemed prejudicial to public security or the interests of the State, the modifications proposed, if they are adopted, would allow a person “injured by false and false information” “to address the authority to delete or block access to this information and the authority would issue orders no later than 24 hours on request.
In addition, the authority – which must be made up of a president and eight other members, including the secretary of the Interior Ministry, the President of the Regulatory Authority for the electronic media in Pakistan (PEMRA) and the President of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) or any member of the PTA-may also require that any social media platform is associated with any way, in any form whatsoever and for payment of costs which can be prescribed.
The project also proposes to create the National Agency for Cybercrime (NCCIA) and the Social Media Protection Court.
Fine tuning
Defending the changes suggested to the controversial law, the Coordinator of Prime Minister Afzal said that the question of the abusive use of social media is not a political problem but in fact affects hundreds of thousands of people victims of defamation.
Stressing the need to update the relevant laws, he indicated that a new authority was being created due to the problems within the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and its lack of ability to solve complaints of citizens in this area.
“There is an excessive disinformation that violates the rights of people. […] Are we going to allow the violation of the rights of peoples to continue, “he asked.
Asked about the role of government, Afzal stressed that it was the role of the executive to appoint people and direct these bodies and that if serious faults appeared, they could be duly corrected and improved.
Responding to a question concerning the apparently precipitated approach and the lack of consultations with the stakeholders, the Coordinator of the Prime Minister declared that the bill was not tabled in isolation and that people were duly consulted and that their comments were taken into account beforehand.
“Consultations took place in different phases,” he said.
Addressing the apparently wide range of what could be “disinformation”, he assured that when the competent authority is created, it will be refined more, it will have its own reference terms (TDR), key performance indicators . (KPI) and everything would be classified.
“This is a broader aspect, however, when an authority is established, it then formulates its own rules and regulations,” he noted.
Assuring that the regular procedure will be respected and that the proposed adjustments will be debated, he said that the problem in question was a larger problem, but that political parties considered it narrower.
“It’s not pti against PML-N [….] You have to deal with the abusive use of advancement, modernization [in social media]”He said while deploring that artificial intelligence (AI) has exacerbated the situation.
