The Senate approved the draft prevention of electronic crimes (PECA) (amendment) and the Pakistan Digital Pakistan 2024 bill Tuesday, in the midst of a raising journalists and demonstrations of opposition members.
Predictive by Vice-President Syed Al Nasser, the session addressed a 16-point program, the draft law on electronic crimes (amendment) (PECA) was presented for approval. The bill was adopted despite the objections raised by the opposition parties and the media groups.
The PECA Act has already been approved by the National Assembly and the Senate’s domestic committee earlier. A majority vote also adopted the Pakistan Digital Nation 2025 bill.
During the session, the Minister of Defense and Aviation, Khawaja Asif, discussed the Renaissance of small airports, saying that Chitral Airport is now operational. He also mentioned that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was improving, the flights taking over small airports and the new planes were bought.
The renewal of PIA has been recognized and the government is working on the opening of new roads, including those in the Chitral and Northern regions.
Senator Saifullah Abro has raised concerns about the limited fleet of PIA and bad operations, highlighting the need for more aircraft and flight operations in a timely manner. In response, Khawaja Asif assured that PIA was recovering, with new roads and acquisitions of current planes.
The session has also seen the Nazir Tarar Azam Senator Introduce the bill on the modification of the smuggling of migration 2025 and the bill for modifying the immigration order 2025. The two bills were referred to the committees relevant.
Later, the Minister of Law Azam Nazir Tarar presented the Pakistan Digital Pakistan 2025 bill, which was adopted with a majority vote despite the opposition demonstrations.
The members of the opposition, including Senator Shibli Faraz, expressed their concerns concerning the lack of consultation on the bill and opposed the way in which the procedure was carried out.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) voted in favor of the bill. During the session, the amendments proposed by Senator Kamran Murtaza in several sections of the bill were rejected. The senator accused the government of having violated provincial autonomy and the concentration of power in Islamabad.
Protesters of journalists for the presentation of the Peca bill
Subsequently, the federal minister Rana Tanveer Hussain moved the request to present the bill on the prevention of electronic crimes (amendment), linked to the prevention of electronic crimes, in the House. This bill (PECA ACT) had already been approved unanimously by the committees of the National Assembly and the Senate.
At this point, parliamentary journalists have once again organized a disengagement from the press gallery. Pakistan Radio Association (PRA) has chanted slogans, qualifying the PECA amendment bill as “black law” and journalists left the press gallery to protest.
On this occasion, the PPP senator Sherry Rehman came to the press show to show solidarity with journalists. She said: “We support journalists’ amendments. The stakeholders were not consulted on the PECA law.
This bill was not discussed within the committee and PPP does not support it. We will sit with journalists and make changes to the Peca bill. We are working on the training of a council in the Peca bill. Bilawal Bhutto said we are holding with journalists on this issue. “”
The Senate began the approval process of the clause by clause of the bill for modifying the PECA law, while the request of Senator Kamran Murtaza for new amendments was rejected. The Senate then adopted the bill for modifying the PECA 2025 law with a majority vote.
What is Peca?
The Pakistani government is strengthening the law on the prevention of electronic crimes (PECA) with new amendments to combat false news and illegal online content. The 2025 law proposed on the prevention of electronic crimes (amendment) introduces serious sanctions, including up to three years in prison and RS2 million fines for the distribution of disinformation.
A key provision is the creation of a digital rights protection authority (DRPA) responsible for regulating social media platforms and deleting illegal content.
DRPA will have powers to investigate complaints, delete content and apply digital ethics. The changes also redefine social media platforms and oblige the conformity of social media companies, which may require the registration and appointment of local representatives.
While supporters believe that changes are essential to fight against false news and hatred speeches, criticism warns against potential censorship and abusive use.
