‘Draconian law,’ says opposition party as Pakistan senate approves controversial cybercrime bill

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Updated 28 January 2025
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‘Draconian law,’ says opposition party as Pakistan senate approves controversial cybercrime bill

  • Bill proposes Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority to block illegal online content
  • Disinformation will be punishable by up to three years in prison and fine of $7,150 under new law

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s upper house of parliament on Tuesday passed a bill to amend the country’s cybercrime law amid a walkout by opposition leaders and journalists who fear the new legislation will be used to censor social media platforms.

Pakistan adopted the much-criticized Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) in 2016, granting sweeping powers to regulators to block private information they deemed illegal. The law provided for up to seven years in prison for “recruiting, funding and planning of terrorism” online. It also allowed “authorized officers” to require anyone to unlock any computer, mobile phone or other device during an investigation.

The government said at the time restrictions under the new law were needed to ensure security against growing threats such as terrorism and to crackdown on unauthorized access, electronic fraud and online harassment. However, journalists and rights activists complain that the law has been largely used to go after journalists, bloggers and other people critical of the government and state institutions like the military. 

The new amendment bill now proposes the establishment of the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority to perform a range of functions related to social media, including awareness, training, regulation, enlistment and blocking. SMPRA would be able to order the immediate blocking of unlawful content targeting judges, the armed forces, parliament or provincial assemblies or material which promotes and encourages terrorism and other forms of violence against the state or its institutions. The law also makes spreading disinformation a criminal offense punishable by three years in prison and a fine of two million rupees ($7,150).

After being passed by both houses of parliament, the bill now needs the president’s ascent to become law. 

“I have heard more ‘yes’ than ‘no’, so the bill is approved,” Syedaal Khan, deputy chair of Pakistan’s Senate, said amid protests from the opposition and journalists who walked out of the gallery.




Syedaal Khan, deputy chairman of Pakistan’s Senate, chairs the session as the controversial ‘Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act’ bill put for voting in Pakistan’s upper house of parliament in Islamabad on January 28, 2025. (PID)

The main opposition party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, called the law “draconian,” saying it would be used to suppress media freedom.

“Second battle will be a constitutional battle in the courts and for that the [party] leadership is consulting lawyers,” the PTI said in a statement shared with reporters.

“We will challenge this and we will keep resisting till this black law is taken back.”




Opposition lawmaker Shibli Faraz debates on the controversial ‘Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act’ bill in Senate of Pakistan in Islamabad on January 28, 2025. (PID)

A copy of the bill seen by Arab News has set imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of Rs2 million or both for “whoever intentionally disseminates, publicly exhibits, or transmits any information through any information system, that he knows or has reason to believe to be false or fake and likely to cause or create a sense of fear, panic or disorder or unrest in general public or society.” 

The bill was presented in the National Assembly on Thursday by Federal Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party of premier Shehbaz Sharif. 




Government lawmaker Rana Tanveer Hussain tables ‘Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act’ bill in Senate of Pakistan in Islamabad on January 28, 2025. (PID)

“The bill will not harm but protect working journalists,” Information Minister Ataullah Tarar told reporters after the passage of the bill by the lower house of parliament last week. “This is the first time the government has defined what social media is. There is already a system in place for print and electronic media and complaints can be registered against them.”

He said “working journalists” should not feel threatened by the bill, which had to be passed because the Federal Investigation Agency, previously responsible for handling cybercrime, “does not have the capacity to handle child pornography or AI deep fake cases.”

Tarar said the government was also aiming to bring social media journalists, including those operating YouTube accounts, under the tax framework.

The operative part of the new bill outlines that the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority would have the power to issue directions to a social media platform for the removal or blocking of online content if it was against the ideology of Pakistan, incited the public to violate the law or take the law in own hands with a view to coerce, intimidate or terrorize the public, individuals, groups, communities, government officials and institutions, incited the public to cause damage to governmental or private property or coerced or intimidated the public and thereby prevented them from carrying on their lawful trade and disrupted civic life.

The authority will also crackdown on anyone inciting hatred and contempt on a religious, sectarian or ethnic basis as well as against obscene or pornographic content and deep fakes. 

Rights activists say the new bill is part of a widespread digital crackdown that includes a ban on X since February last year, restrictions on VPN use and the implementation of a national firewall. 

The government says the measures are not aimed at censorship.


New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson to miss the Champions Trophy with a foot injury

Updated 59 min 32 sec ago
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New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson to miss the Champions Trophy with a foot injury

  • Coach Gary Stead calls Ferguson key part of the bowling group who was excited about the tournament
  • His place will be taken by Kyle Jamieson, who played his most-recent ODI match in September, 2023

WELLINGTON, New Zealand: New Zealand has had another setback ahead of the International Cricket Council’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan, losing fast bowler Lockie Ferguson to a foot injury.
Ferguson was injured in a warm-up match against Afghanistan on Sunday. He will return home immediately and his place in the New Zealand squad will be taken by Kyle Jamieson, who played his most-recent one-day international in September, 2023.
The injury to Ferguson follows the loss of another fast bowler, Ben Sears, to a hamstring injury.
“We’re really disappointed for Lockie,” New Zealand coach Gary Stead said. “Lockie is a key part of the bowling group and brings a lot of major tournament experience and we know how much he was looking forward to representing New Zealand at another major event.
“We wish him well for his recovery and hope he is back firing soon.”


Stead said Jamieson has a skill set which makes him an effective replacement for Ferguson.
“Kyle brings plenty of pace and extra bounce which will suit the conditions here in Pakistan,” Stead said. “He’s shown since returning in the (New Zealand domestic cricket) how effective he can be in the shorter forms of the game and he’s bowled with real pace and energy, which is what you’re looking for.”
New Zealand plays its first match in the Champions Trophy against host Pakistan on Wednesday.


Pakistan to hold week-long Qur’an recitation event at Shah Faisal Mosque in Ramadan

Updated 18 February 2025
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Pakistan to hold week-long Qur’an recitation event at Shah Faisal Mosque in Ramadan

  • Fourteen Qur’an reciters from all over the country to take part in competition from Ramadan 21-27
  • Shabeena is an event in which holy Qur’an, which has over 6,000 verses, is recited in up to three nights 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s religion ministry announced on Tuesday it will hold a week-long Qur’an recitation event or ‘Mehfil Shabeena’ at the iconic Shah Faisal Mosque in Islamabad from Ramadan 21-27, saying that renowned reciters of the holy book from all over the country will partake in it. 

Shabeena is an annual event in which the entire holy Qur’an, which has over 6,000 verses, is recited in up to three nights during the last days of Ramadan. Muslims around the world visit mosques frequently in the last ten nights of Ramadan, considered the most blessed of the holy month and in which believers around the world spend late hours saying voluntary prayers and reading the Qur’an.

Among one of these odd-numbered nights, Muslims believe, is the “Night of Power” in which Islam says the first verses of the holy Qur’an were revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Ramadan in Pakistan is expected to begin either at the end of February or beginning of March, depending on the sighting of the moon.

“Preparations are underway to hold the national Mehfil Shabeena from Ramadan 21-27 under the Ministry of Religious Affairs,” the religion ministry said in a statement.

It said that out of a total of 56 nominated Qur’an reciters from Pakistan’s four provinces, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir areas, only 14 have been selected to take part in the event. 

The ministry said four Qur’an reciters from Punjab, two each from Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces have been selected for the event. One Qur’an reciter each from GB and Azad Kashmir have been selected. 

The Faisal Mosque is a landmark of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, spread over 54,000 square feet that can accommodate over 250,000 people at a time.

It is the largest mosque in Pakistan and the fourth largest in the world, breaking from traditional Islamic structures like domes and instead built along clean modern lines resembling the tents used by nomadic Arab Bedouin tribes, with sloping roofs and a unique angular body.


4 Pakistani troops killed while responding to attack on aid trucks in restive northwest

Updated 18 February 2025
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4 Pakistani troops killed while responding to attack on aid trucks in restive northwest

  • Two were killed on Monday when convoy of aid trucks was attacked by militants in northwestern Kurram
  • At least 130 have been killed in recent months due to clashes between rival Sunni, Shiite groups in district

PARACHINAR, Pakistan: Militants in Pakistan overnight ambushed security forces who were responding to an earlier attack on aid trucks in the country’s troubled northwest, leading to a shootout in which four troops were killed, officials said Tuesday.

The ambush happened hours after authorities dispatched reinforcements to respond to Monday’s attack on a convoy of aid trucks in which a driver and security official were killed in Kurram, a district in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Some security forces were also wounded in the overnight ambush in Kurram, where at least 130 people have died in recent months in clashes between rival Shiite and Sunni tribes, officials said. Several trucks that were heading to Parachinar, the main city in Kurram, were looted and burned, authorities said.

Qaiser Abbas, a doctor at a hospital in Parachinar, said they received the bodies of four security forces Monday night from Kurram, where authorities noted a large-scale operation was being planned to try to apprehend the perpetrators of the attacks.

No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks.

Shiite Muslims dominate parts of Kurram, although they are a minority in the rest of Pakistan, which is majority Sunni. The area has a history of sectarian conflict, with militant Sunni groups previously targeting minority Shiites.


Pakistan heightens security measures in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi ahead of Champions Trophy 

Updated 36 min 15 sec ago
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Pakistan heightens security measures in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi ahead of Champions Trophy 

  • Pakistan will host eight-nation Champions Trophy cricket tournament from Feb. 19-Mar. 9 
  • Police in Lahore, Karachi and twin cities have deployed over 20,000 troops for security 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities have started implementing sweeping security measures in the southern port city of Karachi and Punjab’s Lahore and Rawalpindi ahead of the Champions Trophy tournament, the first multi-country cricket event in nearly 30 years to take place in the country. 

The South Asian nation hopes to erase worries of instability in the country and restore confidence in it as a tourism and investment destination despite its security challenges. Pakistan has suffered a surge in militant attacks in its western provinces bordering Afghanistan since November 2022 after a fragile truce between militants and the state broke down. 

A near fatal militant attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009 in Lahore scared away international teams from touring Pakistan for several years. For the Champions Trophy, police in Lahore, Karachi and the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad have deployed over 20,000 troops, including snipers on rooftops along key routes. Hotels where players will stay, stadiums and airports will be heavily guarded as will the roads connecting these locations.

“My team and all the members of all the relevant forces are engaged in this, and from the police side 5000 plus police officers will be deployed,” Maqsood Ahmed, the deputy inspector general of security in Karachi, told Reuters. “They will be doing the traffic duties, the rout protection, the venue protection, the crowd management and other duties along with the intelligence gathering and the operations before the event.”

Pakistan's para-military soldiers stand guard at the National Stadium in Karachi on February 17, 2025. (AFP)

Karachi police said they have set up an additional SWAT unit to respond to emergencies and conducted preventive intelligence operations to identify potential threats. Ahmed said other law enforcement agencies such as Rangers and the Pakistan Army will cover emergency situations as a secondary reaction force.

Meanwhile, Punjab Police have updated surveillance systems and installed around 10,000 AI-powered facial recognition cameras and additional CCTV cameras across the two cities.

Mohammad Taha, a Karachi resident, pointed out that in the past, authorities would not only block the main thoroughfare but all streets surrounding the National Stadium in the city when international cricket newly returned to Pakistan.

“Now the situation is different,” he told Reuters. “Yes, the main thoroughfare Shahrah-e-Faisal will be closed but the traffic will keep flowing on other roads and flyovers surrounding the stadium.”

Pakistan's police commandos stand guard outside the National Stadium in Karachi on February 17, 2025. (AFP)

Mohammad Munaf, another Karachi resident, agreed. 

“This time the planning seems to be good that the matches are going on and there is no hindrance in traffic flow,” Munaf told Reuters. “The security is also very good. We can easily go to watch matches. We can go toward stadium or anywhere near it anytime. So, we don’t face these issues.”
 


Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf says ‘personally satisfied’ with fitness ahead of Champions Trophy

Updated 18 February 2025
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Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf says ‘personally satisfied’ with fitness ahead of Champions Trophy

  • Rauf sustained muscular sprain in lower chest this month during first match of tri-nation series against New Zealand 
  • Hosts and defending champions Pakistan take on New Zealand in Champions Trophy 2025 opener on Feb. 19 in Karachi

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s fiery right-arm pacer Haris Rauf put injury fears to rest this week by saying he felt comfortable bowling during practice and was “personally satisfied” with his fitness ahead of the Champions Trophy opener. 

Rauf sustained a muscular sprain in his lower chest during Pakistan’s match against New Zealand earlier this month, triggering fears the bowler would be ruled out of the tournament. Along with pacers Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi, Rauf is an essential part of the South Asian country’s pace attack.

Pakistan will face New Zealand in the first match of the ICC Champions Trophy tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 19, in the southern port city of Karachi. Two days before the clash, Pakistan’s cricket team held a training and practice session at the Oval Ground of the PCB’s Hanif Muhammad High Performance Center in Karachi on Monday. 

“I am feeling very good and have been practicing with high intensity for the past two days,” Rauf told reporters on Monday. “I did a bit of bowling today as well and did not feel any pain. Personally I am satisfied but will follow the management’s plan.”

In response to a question, Rauf said Pakistan had plenty of spinners in the form of Khushdil Shah, Abrar Ahmed and Salman Ali Agha apart from pacers. 

“We have a whole bowling unit and we properly utilize it as such,” Rauf said. “As a bowling unit, we have a lot of belief in ourselves.”

The Pakistani pacer pointed out that the green shirts have played the semifinal and final of two ICC T20 World Cups since 2021 and had also played the final of the Asia Cup in 2022. 

“We have together as a group for quite good time and wish to be remembered as the ones who won an ICC event for the country,” he said.

Pakistan are in Group A of the Champions Trophy tournament along with India, New Zealand and Bangladesh. Australia, England, South Africa and Afghanistan comprise Group B. The top two teams will qualify for the next round of the tournament.