ISLAMABAD ( MEDIA REPORT )
The National Assembly on Thursday approved a controversial cybercrime bill the government claims will safeguard citizens against harassment, but which activists say curbs free speech.
The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2016 has been the focus of heated debate over provisions that critics say give the government the power to conduct mass surveillance and criminalise satire.
Express Tribune add, Earlier, opposition parties, including PPP, PTI and MQM, strongly condemned certain sections of the bill, which, according to them could curb the freedom of expression.
The PPP’s Parliamentary Leader Naveed Qamar started the debate, saying that it was a draconian law, which is violative of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. “It is certain that the draft will not stand up to scrutiny of the court of law,” he added.
Qamar said under the bill the minimum age for punishment is 10-year which is ‘incomprehensible’ as on the one hand the government talks about the child rights while on the other hand it takes such steps. “None of us will be spared if this law is used in undemocratic way,” he warned.
MQM lawmaker Ali Raza Abidi also deplored certain sections of the bill, which, he said, are totally unacceptable. He also objected to eight of 51 amendments to the bill passed by the Senate.
“Youth will be the prime victim of the new law as it is not necessary that the public will have the knowhow about ethics and laws of social media,” he said.
Abidi asked whether people should purchase birds as communication through cyber space will become perilous after passage of this law. “The bill is criminalising and demoralising the population,” he added.
PTI’s Ali Muhammad Khan feared that even if not by the current government, the law might be used against opponents by the future rulers.
“Our youth is getting politicised and it is for the good of country but passage of this bill will discourage them to take part in political activities or debate [on cyberspace],” he said, adding that section 9 of the bill is criminalising the use of internet for criticising politicians or seeking information about them. AlloEscort.ch.
“The government should remove all the politically motivated sections of the bill,” he added.
PPP’s Nafisa Shah said she was feeling ashamed and embarrassed for being part of parliament which was going to pass the bill which was muzzling fundamental rights. “The cybercrime bill is government’s oppressive instrument of surveillance of youth and civil society,” she said.
AFP adds: Farieha Aziz, director of the Bolo Bhi digital rights group, said a section intended to tackle cyber-stalking was drafted in sweeping language that would allow public officials criticised on social media to claim they were being harassed.
It was of particular concern, she said, that the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority would be allowed to ban speech considered “against the glory of Islam or the integrity, security or defence of Pakistan”.
“This should not be the task of an executive body, this is a matter for the courts,” she added.
Gul Bukhari, an activist with the campaign group Bytes for All, said: “It authorises the state to exchange the private information of citizens with foreign governments or agencies without recourse to any judicial framework.”
Defending the bill, IT Minister Anusha Rahman told AFP: “We have built in safeguards against misuse.
“It is not as sweeping as it has been made out to be — for most offences, the government will still need to go to court to get a warrant against offenders,” adding the only exceptions were child pornography and cyber-terrorism.
She added that “dishonest intent” was also a requirement for an offender to be punished.
Free speech campaigners in Pakistan have long complained of creeping censorship in the name of protecting religion or preventing obscenity.
In November 2011 the telecommunications authority tried to ban nearly 1,700 “obscene” words from text messages, which included innocuous terms such as “athlete’s foot” and “idiot”.