Controversial Cybercrime bill gets approved by NA

Each one of us will have to tread the internet with caution, now that the controversial Cybercrime bill is in its final stages of approval. The bill, termed as the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill (PECB) 2015 was approved by the National Assembly (NA) on Thursday, amid a lot of criticism by the opposition.

The bill has been going back and forth and finally after a few amendments, it was sent back for the NA’s approval after the Senate had given a unanimous go-ahead for the adoption of the bill. Now all which remains for it to become law, is President Mamnoon Hussain’s approval.

The bill is being termed as ‘draconian’ as members of the opposition posit, that it is going to be used by the government for political reasons and the target is going to be the youth of this country.

Opposition parties including PPP, MQM and PTI strongly condemned different sections of the bill, saying that they will curb the freedom of expression.

Once the bill is passed into law, anything we do or say on social media, will be subject to scrutiny by the government and it could land one in jail.

PPP’s Parliamentary Leader Naveed Qamar said that the bill stands in violation of fundamental human rights which were embodied in the constitution. “It is certain that the draft will not stand up to scrutiny of the court of law,” he added.

He further highlighted that part of the bill which states that the minimum age of punishment is 10-yers which is ‘incomprehensible’ as on the one hand the government talks about the child rights while on the other hand it takes such steps. “None of us will be spared if this law is used in undemocratic way,” he warned.

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Posted by fatimaarshad on Aug 11 2016. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.