News Desk
ISLAMABAD: Draft amendment proposes Digital Rights Protection Authority to hold social media firms to account
• Definition of social media expanded to include tools used to access it, potentially bringing VPNs into ambit
• Sharing ‘fake news’ to be unbailable offence, punishable by 5 years in jail
ISLAMABAD: The government is planning ‘wholesale’ changes to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016, which would see the formation of a new authority, with powers to block online content and access to social media, as well as prosecuting those propagating “fake news”.
A draft of the ‘Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act, 2024’, seen by Dawn, proposes the formation of a Digital Rights Protection Authority (DRPA) to deal with issues such as the removal of online content, prosecuting people for sharing or accessing prohibited content and action against social media platforms where such content is hosted.
The amendments were confirmed by the prime minister’s adviser, Barrister Aqeel Malik, who said the new provisions were aimed at “eliminating misinformation and negative propaganda”.
Among the changes proposed in the draft amendment, the most notable is the new definition of “social media platform”, which has been expanded to now include tools and software used to access social media.
The draft proposes a new clause in Section 2 of Peca — which contains definitions of terms mentioned in the law.
“Any person managing a system that allows access to social media” has also been incorporated into the new definition.
Another addition to this definition is of “website”, “application”, or “communication channel” that allow people to access social media and post content.
This expanded definition could allow the government to block or restrict the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) as they are used to access social media services, like X, which are blocked in Pakistan.
