Journalists, activists rally against Pakistani law to regulate social media

Journalists, activists rally against Pakistani law to regulate social media
Journalists take part in a protest rally in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Jan. 28, 2025, to condemn a controversial 'Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act' bill passed by parliament that critics argue is designed to suppress freedom of speech. (AP)
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Updated 29 January 2025
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Journalists, activists rally against Pakistani law to regulate social media

Journalists, activists rally against Pakistani law to regulate social media
  • Bill proposes Social Media Regulatory Authority to block illegal content, with disinformation punishable by up to three years in prison, $7,000 fine
  • Government officials say the law will not affect working journalists or mainstream media, only those spreading ‘fake news’ on online platforms

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani journalists and rights activists on Tuesday described a new law passed by both houses of parliament and aimed at regulating social media content as an attack on freedom of expression, with hundreds of journalists and activists protesting against the legislation in the federal capital and other cities. 

The law, which amends the much-criticized Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) in 2016, would establish the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority to perform a range of functions related to social media, including being able to order the immediate blocking of unlawful content targeting judges, the armed forces, parliament or provincial assemblies or material that promotes and encourages terrorism and other forms of violence against the state or its institutions. The authority would have its own investigation agency and tribunals. Those found to have disseminated false or fake information face prison sentences of up to three years and fines of two million rupees ($7,200).

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) led rallies in cities including Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore on Tuesday to demand the government withdraw the bill, which has been passed by the National Assembly and Senate but has yet to be signed into law by the president.

“We do not accept this amendment bill … this law curtails our freedom of press and freedom of expression,” PFUJ secretary general Nasir Zaidi told Arab News at the protest in Islamabad.

“This is the darkest day in the history of journalism and the history of freedom of journalists, against which we are protesting.”

Zaidi explained that the new law would establish four regulatory authorities for social media platforms, digital platforms and even electronic media.

Journalist and anchorwoman Asma Shirazi blamed the government for bulldozing the legislation through the parliament without consulting stakeholders. 

“We all agree that there should be some legislation [to curb fake news] but the stakeholders must be taken on board and they must be consulted in the legislation formation,” she told Arab News.

Usama Khilji, a director at Bolo Bhi, a digital rights advocacy forum, said the law posed a threat to Pakistani citizens, especially journalists and social media users who expressed their views online. 

“Four new bodies related to social media, including a tribunal and an authority, are all appointed by the government and the government can fire the chairperson at any point [under new law],” Khilji said. “What we also see is a three-year jail term for sharing false or fake information but that is a very broad and vague definition.”

Khilji said the law granted regulatory authorities the power to block entire social media platforms legally. 

“The broad powers that have been given will have a far-ranging impact,” he said.

Khilji also said the new law risked Pakistan’s GSP plus trade status with the European Union, under which it gets preferential access to markets for implementing international conventions on human rights, labor rights, environmental protection, and good governance.

Speaking on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday, Federal Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, who moved the bill, said the law would not apply to TV channels or newspapers but only to “miscreants” spreading false news on social media platforms.

“Even the opposition during their speeches in the house essentially acknowledged the need for the PECA law,” he said. “They admitted that there is a lot of filth online that needs to be addressed.”

Information Minister Ataullah Tarar told reporters after the passage of the bill by the lower house of parliament last week that it would not apply to “working journalists”: 

“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.”

The information minister said the law 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 added that 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 denies the measures are aimed at censorship.


Pakistan military officer killed in clash with India-linked militants in Balochistan — army

Pakistan military officer killed in clash with India-linked militants in Balochistan — army
Updated 34 sec ago
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Pakistan military officer killed in clash with India-linked militants in Balochistan — army

Pakistan military officer killed in clash with India-linked militants in Balochistan — army
  • Army says three militants killed in intelligence-based operation in Awaran district
  • Accuses India of sponsoring terrorism inside Pakistan, vows to continue operations

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani army officer was killed during a clash with militants in the southwestern province of Balochistan on Tuesday, the military said, saying the assailants were Indian proxies operating inside Pakistan.

The fighting took place in Awaran district during an intelligence-based operation targeting suspected members of “Fitna al Hindustan,” a term the Pakistani military uses for militants it says are backed by India. The region, part of Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, has long experienced separatist and insurgent violence, and Islamabad has frequently alleged Indian involvement in destabilizing activities there, a charge New Delhi has repeatedly denied.

According to the Pakistani military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), troops engaged the suspected militants at their hideout and killed three.

“During the conduct of operation, own troops effectively engaged the terrorist location and resultantly, three Indian sponsored terrorists were sent to hell,” ISPR said in a statement.

The military said Major Syed Rabnawaz Tariq, 34, was killed in the firefight while leading the operation. He was a resident of Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

“Major Syed Rabnawaz Tariq … a brave officer who was leading his troops from the front, fought gallantly and paid the ultimate sacrifice,” the statement said.

A sanitization operation was underway following the clash to clear the area of any remaining militants, the military said, adding that such actions were part of Pakistan’s broader effort to eliminate what it described as “Indian Sponsored Terrorism” within its borders.

“The security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of Indian Sponsored Terrorism from the country, and such sacrifices of our brave men further strengthen our resolve,” the statement added.

The incident follows a series of recent accusations and military tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors, including most recently when they exchanged in a four-day long air war in May. They have in the past fought multiple wars and regularly trade blame over unrest in disputed Kashmir and border regions.


Three killed, 12 injured as gunmen target passenger bus in southwestern Pakistan

Three killed, 12 injured as gunmen target passenger bus in southwestern Pakistan
Updated 16 July 2025
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Three killed, 12 injured as gunmen target passenger bus in southwestern Pakistan

Three killed, 12 injured as gunmen target passenger bus in southwestern Pakistan
  • Armed men shot indiscriminately at bus traveling from Karachi to Quetta at N-25 highway, say police
  • Gunmen last week abducted, killed nine people after stopping two passenger buses in Balochistan

QUETTA: Three people were killed while 12 others were injured in Pakistan’s southwestern Kalat district on Wednesday, police and an official confirmed, after unidentified men opened fire on a passenger bus headed toward Quetta.

Kalat Station House Office (SHO) Habibullah Baloch said unidentified armed men shot indiscriminately at a passenger bus from Karachi headed toward Quetta on Wednesday. The attack took place near Nimragh Cross in Kalat district, located on the N-25 highway connecting Balochistan to the southern port city of Karachi.

“Three passengers, residents of Karachi, were killed in the attack and 12 others were wounded,” Baloch told Arab News, adding that the injured were shifted to the District Hospital Kalat for treatment.

The police official said the attackers did not stop the bus to check the National Identity Cards (NICs) of the passengers before firing at them, adding that the gunmen “sprayed” the vehicle with bullets.

He said dozens of passengers were traveling in the bus, adding that most of them were residents of Karachi.

Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind condemned the attack in a statement.

“The security forces have surrounded the area and a hunt for the attackers is underway,” Rind said.

The latest attack has taken place after gunmen abducted and killed nine people last week when they stopped two passenger buses on a highway in Balochistan’s Zhob and Loralai districts. Those buses were traveling from Quetta to the eastern Punjab province.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but most impoverished province, has been the site of a long-running insurgency that has intensified in recent months, with separatist militants attacking security forces, government officials and installations and people from other provinces, particularly Punjab, the country’s most populous and prosperous province and a major recruitment base for the military.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) is the strongest of a number of insurgent groups operating in the mineral-rich region bordering Afghanistan and Iran. The group accuses the central government of stealing their resources to fund development in Punjab and other parts of the country. The federal government denies the allegations and says it is working for the uplift of local communities in Balochistan, where China has been building a deep-sea port as part of its Belt and Road Initiative.

Pakistan accuses India of backing separatists in Balochistan as well as religiously motivated militant groups, like the Pakistani Taliban, in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. New Delhi denies the allegations.

Balochistan has seen a rise in militant attacks since last year. Last August, nearly two dozen passengers were killed after BLA militants forcibly removed them from Punjab-bound buses in a string of coordinated attacks in Balochistan. Another seven Punjabi commuters were offboarded from buses and killed in Balochistan’s Barkhan district in February this year.

In March, BLA separatists hijacked a train that carried hundreds of passengers near Balochistan’s Bolan Pass, which resulted in the deaths of 23 soldiers, three railway employees and five passengers. At least 33 insurgents were also killed.


Pakistan’s HUBCO seeks extension of $51 million guarantees to safeguard coal plants

Pakistan’s HUBCO seeks extension of $51 million guarantees to safeguard coal plants
Updated 53 min 30 sec ago
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Pakistan’s HUBCO seeks extension of $51 million guarantees to safeguard coal plants

Pakistan’s HUBCO seeks extension of $51 million guarantees to safeguard coal plants
  • New transmission charges, which HUBCO says were not originally included, have pushed investors to seek extended guarantees
  • Coal-fired power is crucial amid rising use of solar power, whose variability could potentially cause blackouts if mismanaged

KARACHI: Pakistan’s largest independent power producer Hub Power (HUBCO) said on Wednesday it was seeking an extension to $51 million in bank guarantees to protect its coal-fired power plants, a crucial source of stable power amid Pakistan’s rising use of solar.

The guarantees, previously short-term, would now stay in place until 2034 to cover future loan repayments and potential penalties, the company said in a notice to the country’s stock exchange.

New government-imposed transmission charges, which HUBCO is contesting and says were not included in its original contracts, have pushed investors to seek extended guarantees. The cost of borrowing to provide these guarantees would remain below the expected returns from the projects, it said.

“The extended guarantee will cover any fines or funding gaps that may arise,” HUBCO said in a notice to the country’s stock exchange, adding that the company has invested about $131 million in the projects so far.

The South Asian nation has faced chronic electricity shortages and challenges to grid stability because of rising solar power use, fuel import constraints due to a foreign exchange crisis and a debt-burdened electricity sector.

Stable coal-fired power supply is crucial amid rising use of solar power, whose variability could potentially cause blackouts if mismanaged.

HUBCO will hold an extraordinary general meeting in August to seek shareholder approval for the plan for its two 330 megawatt (MW) plants operating on locally mined coal “to ensure the plants’ continued operation,” it said.

The plants’ problems stem from broader challenges faced by Pakistan’s power sector. Pakistan last year authorized an early termination of a power supply deal running to March 2027 as a part of an IMF mandate to cut energy debt.


Pakistan to send Islamabad Police officers to Beijing for AI, modern policing training 

Pakistan to send Islamabad Police officers to Beijing for AI, modern policing training 
Updated 16 July 2025
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Pakistan to send Islamabad Police officers to Beijing for AI, modern policing training 

Pakistan to send Islamabad Police officers to Beijing for AI, modern policing training 
  • Pakistan undertakes efforts to improve policing methods amid rising militancy in country
  • Interior minister accepts Beijing Police’s offer to provide anti-riot training to Islamabad police

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s interior ministry announced on Wednesday that the government would send Islamabad Police officers to Beijing so that they can receive training in artificial intelligence and modern policing methods. 

Pakistan has recently undertaken measures to enhance its policing methods, especially as it faces surging militant attacks in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces. These efforts include digitizing police records, hiring more women police officers and releasing public awareness videos on social media platforms. 

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met Beijing Police Department’s Deputy Director General Gao Jianxin in Islamabad. The two sides discussed collaboration between the police forces of Islamabad and Beijing, the interior ministry said.

“During the meeting, it was decided that officers of Islamabad police will be sent to Beijing for training in modern policing and advanced technologies,” the ministry said in a statement.

“These officers will participate in various training courses conducted by the Beijing Police Department. They will also receive special training in the use of artificial intelligence to further improve the policing system,” it added. 

The minister said Pakistan would benefit from the “highly efficient and technologically advanced” Beijing police force, adding that the use of modern technology was essential for public safety and crime prevention.

Naqvi also highlighted the importance of timely information sharing to tackle militancy, crime, drug trafficking and human smuggling, the ministry said.

He accepted the Beijing Police’s offer to provide anti-riot training to the Islamabad police, the statement said.


Pakistan navy chief calls for enhancing drone capabilities for maritime security

Pakistan navy chief calls for enhancing drone capabilities for maritime security
Updated 16 July 2025
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Pakistan navy chief calls for enhancing drone capabilities for maritime security

Pakistan navy chief calls for enhancing drone capabilities for maritime security
  • Admiral Naveed Ashraf chairs meeting of navy’s apex decision-making forum in Islamabad 
  • Drones help countries detect threats, track enemy movements, monitor maritime borders

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Navy Chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf on Wednesday called for increasing the country’s capabilities in drones and unmanned systems to counter threats at sea, the navy said. 

These comments from Ashraf came while he chaired a meeting of the navy’s Command & Staff Conference at the Naval Headquarters in Islamabad. The conference is the apex decision-making forum of the navy, where its chief, principal staff officers and field commanders review policies and strategic plans.

“Admiral Naveed Ashraf also emphasized the development of capabilities in unmanned systems, including drones and unmanned surface/underwater vessels, to enhance surveillance and response capabilities,” the navy’s media wing said in a statement. 

Ashraf underscored the importance of maintaining perpetual combat readiness to effectively counter both traditional and non-traditional threats in the maritime domain, the statement added. 

He appreciated the navy’s efforts to maintain maritime security during Pakistan’s four-day military conflict with India in May, highlighting the country’s “robust defense capabilities.”

“Naval Chief commended PN’s proactive measures in ensuring continuous flow of supplies through Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs) and uninterrupted operations at seaports,” the navy said. 

Unmanned systems and drones help a country detect threats, track enemy movements and monitor maritime borders without risking lives. 

These monitoring systems are cost-effective as well, helping navies extend their reach without the need for additional ships or personnel.