Protest planned against Peca tweaks today

ISLAMABAD: A day after President Asif Ali Zardari assented to the controversial amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016, the journalist bodies on Thursday announced observing a “Black Day” against the “black law”.

The contentious Peca (Amendment) Bill 2025 received assent from President Zardari on Wednesday amid uproar over the contentious amendments by the opposition and journalist fraternity. Earlier, the controversial bill sailed through the Senate and the National Assembly amid protests by journalists and the opposition.

In a statement, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) said that black flags would be hoisted at press clubs across the country and in the union’s offices. PFUJ President Afzal Butt and Secretary Arshad Ansari, in a joint statement, said that journalists would hold rallies against the controversial amendments to the Peca Act on Jan 31, 2025, Friday (today)

They said that journalists would perform their professional responsibilities by wearing black armbands to record their protest, adding that the federal government and parliament did not consult the stakeholders on the bill. Expressing their annoyance over the presidential nod to the contentious amendments, the PFUJ leaders said the president approved the bill without allowing them to clear their stance on the matter. “A press freedom movement has been launched,” they said, adding that the PFUJ would issue a call for a sit-in outside the Parliament House against the “black law”.

Journalists Joint Action Committee (JAC) — comprising the Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA), All Pakistan Newspapers Society, Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) and Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND) — endorsed the PFUJ’s call for the nationwide protest. The JAC was of the view that the controversial bill was approved without listening to journalist organisations and stakeholders.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) called the amendment to the Peca Act a black law and a move to curtail freedom of expression and demanded its immediate withdrawal. The IHCBA said that the Peca amendments are against freedom of expression, journalism and basic human rights, which will be challenged in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in collaboration with the journalist community. The IHCBA has passed a resolution condemning the amendment to the Peca Act, calling it an attempt to suppress the voices of journalists, social media users and ordinary citizens.

Meanwhile, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai has expressed complete solidarity with the Parliamentary Reporters Association (PRA) in its struggle against the passage of controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) 2025 by two houses of parliament and signing the same into law by President Zardari in haste.

A delegation of PRA, led by the association’s President Usman Khan, met Mahmood Khan Achakzai on the issue of Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act (Peca), 2025 and its consequences on freedom of the media and speech. Achakzai said that the incumbent rulers were busy clipping the wings of media and all the institutions and every segment of society was being frustrated. “There is a war between those respecting the Constitution and those who do not uphold sanctity of Constitution. InshaAllah, we will win this war”, he said.

PRA President Usman Khan raised doubts on the role of political parties in democracy after their support to Peca, 2025 in the Senate and National Assembly. “Under the cover of action against social media, the freedom of expression and journalists have been targeted,” he said. PRA General Secretary Naveed Akbar briefed Achakzai on the condemnable role of political parties while supporting Peca, 2025.