Senate Standing Committee on Interior Unanimously Passes PECA Amendment Bill

Islamabad: The Senate Standing Committee on Interior has unanimously approved the amendment bill to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) during a meeting chaired by Senator Faisal.

The committee expressed strong displeasure over the absence of the Inspector General of Sindh Police from the meeting. Chairman Senator Faisal questioned why the IG Sindh neither attended the session nor informed the committee about his absence.

Committee member Saifullah Abro said that legislation is urgently needed to reduce the monopoly of the police and to ensure accountability of police officers before parliamentarians. He sarcastically asked whether the IG Sindh was busy extinguishing the fire at Gul Plaza. He further questioned the performance of Sindh Police, asking how many criminals operating in the riverine (Katcha) areas had been arrested and where the police were when a Sindh SHO was shot dead. He criticized the police for what he termed continued humiliation of parliamentarians.

During the meeting, the PECA amendment bill was taken up for consideration. Senator Anusha Rahman said that the bill she had presented was also supported by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA). She questioned the mechanism for removing objectionable content from social media and asked what action would be taken if platforms failed to comply with requests from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and NCCIA.

The Director General NCCIA informed the committee that requests for cooperation had already been sent to social media platforms.

Senator Anusha Rahman stressed that a clear and transparent mechanism must be in place for the removal of objectionable content, noting that service providers previously refused to take down content unless a crime was legally established.

Minister of State Talal Chaudhry said that the government itself has been a victim of misuse of social media and often faces allegations of curbing freedom of expression. He said that terrorists, who once used weapons, are now using social media as a tool, adding that the government also wants to bind social media platforms and service providers through effective legislation.

Following the discussion, the Senate Standing Committee on Interior unanimously passed the PECA amendment bill.