Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2016 provides for much-needed legislation on cyberspace
The most contentious of all the section turned out to be Section 34 that grants PTA the ultimate and supreme power in all matters cyber. Another point being raised by activist groups is the apprehension that there are not sufficient provisions as to keep a check on investigation agency and its officers
Dearest sirs and ma’ams, legislation is never perfect, often dicey and at times nothing but jiggery-pokery dressed in high sounding words of reform and promises guaranteeing improvement. Ask any observer and he’ll confide that the whole business of lawmaking involves a strange mix of consent, understanding (or pretending to understand) technicalities, and backlash.
Unfortunately, Pakistan Electronic Crimes Bill, 2016 has bagged more than its due of backlash and caused an uproar since its very inception. The Bill has many detractors, majority of whom hailing from digital rights platforms and human rights groups. It also has its fair share of apologists who consider that PECB, 2016 is a much needed piece of legislation that will act as a deterrent for those involved in abusing cyberspace for ulterior, rotten ends.
The credit goes to present government for shouldering the responsibility of regulating a hitherto ‘free-for-all’ space where anonymity coupled with ease of access and availability of vulnerable individuals ruined many lives. The task is nothing short of Herculean as the path to tread ahead is rife with pitfalls and strewn with thorns. We all have our fingers crossed as legislators walk the tightrope dividing liberty and lawlessness.
I request thousands of lads and dames who rage, wage and roam around uncaged in the realm of cyberspace to make a tad bit less haste as the law is far from seeing the light of day. I implore the tweet-happy, opinionated Twitterati folks and unpaid ‘bahadur’ sepoys of Facebook to kindly google how laws are deliberated, debated, drafted, passed and enacted all over the world. Maybe then they’ll know that the dystopia they imagine Pakistan will become after this single piece of legislation is zilch but a figment of their wild fancy.
When one lives in a country where parliamentary democracy stands for vote banks being called political parties and political parties comprise of a bunch of electables who move hither and thither as and when they please. These so-called ‘electables’, mostly gentlemen from landed gentry and scions of industrial families, decide which party will remain in power and which won’t stand a chance. Our politicos disapprove all that is said and done by the ‘other’ so much that they want to rip him a new one. Ask yourself, are we not acting silly to expect that when it comes to legislation we expect from our legislators to rival the prowess and sagacity of their western counterparts.
No doubt the PECB, 2016 will affect a huge chunk of our populace as it is estimated that approximately 35 million people, around 10 percent of our population, has access to the internet. Another way to see this is one out of every hundred internet users in the world is a Pakistani. We constitute one percent of all world internet users.
Majority of them use it for business, for information, for entertainment or to interact with their friends and family over social media sites. Facebook being the most popular one. Back in 2012 there were around six million Pakistanis on Facebook, now the number has increased four times as it is estimated that presently around 25 million Pakistanis actively use the popular social media platform.
There is a dark side to cyberspace like every entity in the world. On regular basis we hear of incidents involving hate speech, blackmailing, threats, defamation, and propaganda to bulldoze either repute of a person or sanctity of an institution. Freedom to express oneself comes at a price few are willing to pay. The price is thought and consideration. We want liberty, once we get it, we deem and wield it like a license.
The Pakistan Electronic Crimes Bill, 2016 provides for strict and severe sentences and fines. Up to seven years imprisonment and 10 million rupees for hate speech and inciting disputes on the basis of religion or sectarianism are proposed. The uploading and sharing of obscene photos of children is punishable for up to seven years and half a million fine. The above two activities, use of internet to spread sectarian hate and dissemination of child pornography, are ruthlessly gnawing at the soul of our society. The recent scandal in Kasur where videos of boys being physically and sexually abused and videotaped were not only shared, but sold is still fresh in public imagination. Establishment of an investigation agency has also been enshrined under section 26 of the Bill. Furthermore, without Court orders no investigation will commence. The amendments made also include provisions that make terror financing and recruitment as punishable crimes.
However, everything about the proposed bill is not hunky-dory. It is the responsibility of the legislators to rid the proposed law of any and all vagueness and make the provisions more clear. As many critics have pointed out that the bill must be reviewed to maintain the fragile balance between regulations and freedom to express oneself fairly and freely without let or hindrance.
The most contentious of all the section turned out to be Section 34 that grants PTA the ultimate and supreme power in all matters cyber. Another point being raised by activist groups is the apprehension that there are not sufficient provisions as to keep a check on investigation agency and its officers.
Laws, dearest sirs and ma’ams, are made by mortals for mortals and aim at regulating earthly, routine affairs. New realities call for nifty lawmaking. We, the citizenry, must play our role in a productive manner. We must pay the price for liberty we so dearly enjoy, which is none other than eternal vigilance.
