ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Wednesday approved the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015.
The Cyber Crime bill must also be approved by Senate before it can be signed into law. The draconian bill, which has been criticised by the IT industry as well as civil society for curbing human rights and giving overreaching powers to law enforcement agencies, was submitted to the NA for voting in Jan 2015 by the Ministry of IT.
It was then referred to the NA Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication to address concerns raised by the opposition members and stakeholders from the industry.
A draft of the cybercrime bill was then forcefully cleared by the standing committee in September before being forwarded to the NA for final approval without showing committee members the copy of the bill.
According to critics, the proposed bill criminalises activities such as sending text messages without the receiver’s consent or criticising government actions on social media with fines and long-term imprisonment. Industry representatives have argued that the bill would harm business as well.
Online criticism of religion, the country, its courts, and the armed forces are among subjects which could invoke official intervention under the bill.
