Controversial law

The Orwellian Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015 approved by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology has come under heavy criticism from a variety of social actors. The law has been drafted to replace the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Ordinance, which lapsed in 2009. The approved draft appears to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of online internet usage with most observers commenting that under the law all of Pakistan’s 30 million or so internet users could easily be jailed. Under the law, no warrant from court would be required for law enforcers before carrying out such an arrest. The minimum age for prosecution has been set at 13 years. Blogs, cartoons, caricatures and memes will all be criminalised. Posting someone’s photograph online without direct permission will be criminal as will be sending someone spam. Under the guise of protecting internet users, the law will extend the reach of the security state to the web.
Bolo Bhi, one of the groups critiquing the law, claims that a detailed draft had been submitted, one that did not infringe upon individual freedoms and complied with the Council of Europe’s Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. Internet service providers have said that even if the current draft was approved, it would be impossible to implement it. That in itself may be a good thing, but the real question is: why does a bill on cyber crime need to include heavy clauses to legalise censorship? Comparisons are being made to the draconian cyber legislation in China and the UAE. One paragraph in particular aims to empower the government to ‘block access to any website in the interest of the glory of Islam, security or defence of Pakistan, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality’. One may be forgiven for being confused – the wording continues to degenerate into the vaguest terms. The fact is that cyber legislation around the world is subject to abuse and misuse: our Indian cyber counterpart has drawn criticism after it led to arrests of persons involved in mere political criticism. Moreover, the fact that the law does not comply with global conventions actually restricts the government’s ability to seek international help in cybercrime and counterterrorism. There is no doubt a need to curb hate speech, harassment, cyber fraud and hacking in Pakistan. However, the law approved by the NA standing committee is an assault on free speech. One hopes that sense will prevail – otherwise many of us can easily be deemed cyber criminals.