The National Assembly on Thursday passed the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Bill, 2025 to a walkout from journalists, who criticized its passage without due consultation with media bodies.
The amendments to the country’s cybercrime laws were tabled a day earlier before being referred to the relevant standing committee. They were passed today with limited opposition, as lawmakers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had already walked out earlier after protesting against the ongoing incarceration of Imran Khan, who was convicted in the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case last week.
Speaking with media ahead of the bill’s passage, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan had assailed the legislation, maintaining all opposition members of the standing committee had opposed it. Another PTI lawmaker, Zartaj Gul, had claimed the new penalties for violators were excessive and would be used to suppress dissent. After the bill was passed, Omar said opposition parties would protest against the legislation inside and out of Parliament.
Under the new bill, anyone found guilty of intentionally sharing fake news faces three years’ imprisonment, a fine of Rs. 2 million, or both. It also establishes a new Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority that would regulate social media platforms and have the power to partially or completely block any platforms that do not comply with domestic laws.
To facilitate public complaints, the bill calls for the formation of a Social Media Complaint Council to receive and process complaints made by aggrieved persons against violation of any provision of the cybercrime law. All alleged violations would be decided by a Social Media Protection Tribunal, which must decide all cases within 90 days.
Journalist opposition
In separate statements, various journalist bodies have criticized the new amendments.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC), a body representing journalists’ rights groups, has condemned the amendment, maintaining it was approved without consultation with media bodies. “JAC and its members have not been shared with any draft as yet. Before studying the draft none of the JAC members are in a position to comment on the proposed amendments,” it said and urged the government to keep the bill pending until proper consultation with all stakeholders.
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, meanwhile, described the amendments as an “attack on freedom of expression. Claiming the amendments violated the Constitution, they urged the government to withdraw the “undemocratic and unnecessary amendment” or risk protests from journalists nationwide.
As the bill was passed, journalists present in the Press Gallery staged a walkout. In a bid to appease them, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stressed that the bill did not target “working journalists” and only sought to regulate social media. He described “working journalists” as individuals registered with press clubs.
“For the first time, we have defined what social media is. Any online platform or web application that transmits information is social media,” he said, noting electronic and print media was already covered by PEMRA’s council of complaints.”
According to Tarar, the bill would facilitate mainstream media, noting that vloggers don’t even pay taxes on the revenue they generate. “This bill has been put forward because the FIA does not have the capacity to counter child pornography and deepfakes,” he continued, adding that the proposed National Cybercrime Investigation Agency would not go into effect immediately, as some time would be required to frame rules for it.
Defending against criticism describing the amendments as draconian, the minister said people could not be allowed to continue publishing false content on digital media without consequences. “This is not an overnight process and we are willing to consult stakeholders when forming this authority and the agency,” he said and urged all journalists’ bodies to debate the actual contents of the legislation.