A sensitisation session was held on Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill by Pakhtunkhwa Civil Society Network (PCSN), Blue Veins, Tribal NGOs Consortium (TNC), Peace Justice and youth Organisation (PJYO) and AAS Foundation on Wednesday, in which journalists from various media organisations participated.
The Prevention of Electronic Crime Ordinance 2007 was presented in 2007 under the Article 89(2) of the Constitution. Afterwards, this ordinance was re-defined in 2008, 2009 and 2014 as well and presently the new draft of Pakistan Electronic Cyber Crime Bill 2015 was sent to the National Assembly's Standing Committee on IT and Telecom. Now the Ministry of IT has made amendments to previously drafted bill that talks more about internet control in which users will be fined for sharing any information that government deems inappropriate, vulgar or against glory of Islam.
The participants welcomed the government to introduce a bill which could prevent cyber crime, terrorism and electronic fraud but expressed their disappointment on the vague language of the bill which in its current shape have the potential to pose a serious threat to fundamental rights and freedoms in Pakistan which could cause a serious threat to journalists in Pakistan and will promote the criminalization of dissent. The journalists feared that the control of cyber space by government may lead to numerous violations of basic rights including access to information, privacy rights and freedom of speech which is the essence of journalism.
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