Crackdown against social media activists creates hue, cry

• Political activists, journalists quizzed, released
• HRCP expresses concern

The Counterterrorism Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has launched a countrywide crackdown against social media activists.

It has summoned and quizzed at least 21 social media and rights activists for their alleged involvement in projecting “venomous and malicious” propaganda against state institutions, including the Pakistan Army and the judiciary as well as various religious and sectarian groups, Pakistan Today has learnt. Taha Siddiqui, a journalist working with a foreign media outlet, moved a writ petition with the Islamabad High Court alleging that the FIA had harassed him over the phone.

The petitioner alleged that he had been contacted by a member of the Counterterrorism Department of the FIA asking him into appearing for an ‘interrogation’ at the FIA headquarters. The petitioner, through his counsel, Asma Jahangir, sought the intervention of the court claiming his “professional work was in the public domain which could be accessed without his presence or interrogation.”

The petitioner added that it was inconceivable for him to ascertain why the counterterrorism department of the FIA should be calling up a journalist who has nothing to do with terrorism and is a person of the pen. Siddiqui sought to restrain orders for the FIA’s counter-terrorism wing as well as the Interior Ministry be directed to desist from harassing citizens. Fawad Hussain Chaudhry, a spokesperson for the PTI, told Pakistan Today that his party’s five activists have been detained and threatened with action under the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act.

WHY COUNTERTERRORISM WING?

Sources in the FIA confirmed to this scribe requesting not being named that the matter was being pursued by the counter-terrorism wing of the department. “Since the law violators ranged from all across the country, the FIA had decided to deal with the matter through its counterterrorism wing which also has jurisdiction over cyber crimes. The matter of the fact is that the jurisdiction of the FIA’s cyber crimes wing is limited to the federal capital and Rawalpindi. So we had to activate the counterterrorism wing for this cause,” the sources said.

Asked whether if any individual is charged, he/she would be tried under counterterrorism law as being feared by civil rights and political activists, an official at the agency said though no one had been charged till date, anyone found involved would only be charged under Cyber Crimes Law and not under Counterterrorism Law. “Investigation and proceeding with criminal charges are different. We only used counterterrorism wing to help move against violators from other parts of Pakistan too. I fear a media campaign has been launched to sabotage the action against violators of the law,” the official said.

The official said that till date, the agency had interviewed 21 activists and none of those have been arrested and all were freed after initial questions. “Since it’s a very preliminary stage of the investigation, those involved in the maligning campaign were called and few questions were asked. We will start arrests once we have a concrete case against the accused,” the official added. Asked why only political activists from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were being targeted, the official said no specific party or group was being targeted.

“The action is not a campaign against any specific political, religious or racial group. It is against all those found involved. More people would be summoned soon and questions would be put to them as the process goes on,” the official added.

PTI, ACTIVISTS TAKE TO STREETS:

PTI activists staged protests in three major cities across the country on Monday following a raid at the office of a PTI’s social media activist in Peshawar and FIA’s alleged crackdown in connection with the suspected violations of cyber crime law. Terming the move as an attempt to curb the right of freedom of expression, the party held protest demonstrations in Karachi, Quetta and Islamabad.

The office of a PTI volunteer working for the party’s social media wing in Peshawar was reportedly ransacked by unidentified individuals earlier in the day. PTI activist Furqan Kakakhel said the office was his personal space, where he worked as a party volunteer to “promote PTI’s vision on social media.” All the three demonstrations were held outside the respective press clubs of the three cities.

PTI leader Asad Umar addressed the protesters in Karachi, Fawad Chaudhry in Islamabad and other local leaders in Quetta. The protesting leaders alleged that in the past, the PML-N’s government was responsible for hatching conspiracies against the electronic media and now the rulers are aiming to curb the social media. They also warned the government to extend the agitation and hold sit-ins. The decision by the PTI to launch protests in different cities came in the wake of the alleged harassment of its party workers.

A day earlier, the party had claimed that Owais Khan, another member of PTI’s social media team, was taken into custody by FIA over alleged violations of Pakistan’s cyber-crime laws. In Islamabad,   civil society activists on Monday joined a protest to denounce the FIA action terming it a violation of freedom of speech and only pointed against the social media activists linked to opposition and media.

Talking to Pakistan Today, party’s president of federal capital and elected opposition leader in capital’s assembly, Ali Awan, said that the government was using its muscle to target his party’s workers and rights activists in a bid to silence criticism. He said his party’s workers were being picked by the agency without any proper warning and were being quizzed in a bid to help silence social media critique against the ruling family.

Asked whether the action was only against his party activists, Awan said that not a single worker from social media cell working under the nose of Maryam Nawaz Sharif had been arrested despite the fact that the campaign against army was being launched by the ruling party. PTI Chairman Imran Khan also warned the ruling party against public protests if witch-hunt of his party workers would not end.

“We will take to the streets if action is taken against our social media activists under the garb of ‘national security’,” Imran Khan tweeted on social media site. Addressing a gathering in Quetta last Friday, Imran had said would be forced to take to the streets if the government touched his workers or banned the social media. Salar Kakar, a PTI social media activist, was detained from Quetta and shifted to Islamabad for investigation before being released a day later.

In a press statement issued last week, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) voiced serious alarm over arbitrary curbs on freedom of expression, a climate of intimidation and the authorities’ stated intent to act against any perceived slight to the armed forces through the social media. “HRCP notes with growing concern the prevailing climate with regard to freedom of expression. We are particularly alarmed by statements of at least two federal ministers, one of which vowed severe action under the cyber crime law and through the other the FIA was directed to proceed against those ‘dishonouring’ the army through the social media,” the commission said.

“HRCP wishes to remind the authorities that any limitations on the freedom of opinion, expression and information must be in consonance with Article 19 of the ICCPR and the constitution of Pakistan. The constitution itself states that any restriction regarding the Article 19 freedoms must be reasonable and shall only take effect if provided by law.”