Amended Peca ‘endangers journalism’, says IFJ president

KARACHI: President of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Dominique Pradalie has asked for the Peca law to be repealed. In a post on X (Twitter) on Thursday (February 13), Pradalie retweeted a post by a Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) member which showed her attending the PFUJ Congress in Islamabad.

Pradalie had written: “At the PFUJ congress in Islamabad, we asked for abolition of Peca law endangering seriously the journalism in Pakistan”.

The Pakistan government had introduced amendments to the Peca law last month, reducing the jail term for “intentionally disseminating false and fake information” from seven to three years. The amendments include new definitions, the creation of regulatory and investigative bodies, and stricter penalties for spreading ‘false’ information.

IFJ, the largest global union federation of journalists’ trade unions, has previously also joined in with other journalists’ organisations in critiquing the Peca law and the amendments to it.

In its statement last month, IFJ had said that “The amendments to Pakistan’s draconian PECA represent a transparent attempt to further tighten control over digital expression and internet freedom under the guise of curbing misinformation. By extending government jurisdiction online, broadening censorship powers, and imposing penalties for vaguely defined offences, this legislation threatens journalists, activists, and the public’s right to information”. The organisation had at the time asked President Zardari to reject the bill.

On a call by the PFUJ, journalists have been protesting the Peca amendment law for the past 2-3 days.