Cybercrime bill slammed

KARACHI: All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) has condemned the recently added harsh and unfair clauses in the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill (PECB) 2015.
In a statement issued on Thursday, APBF President Ibrahim Qureshi said the new clauses deny freedom of expression to the common citizens and were added without consulting stakeholders.
According to these newly added clauses, the internet users in the country can be fined or even imprisoned for things like sharing information that the government considers inappropriate, vulgar or “against the glory of Islam”. Qureshi said these alterations are unjustifiable, as the Ministry of Information Technology has significantly altered the original intent of the regulation, thus threatening the freedom of expression of the common internet user. The revised bill can be easily misused, as the intelligence agencies and the political or government officials have now been granted the powers to unduly censor or harass and even punish any common citizen or organisation.
The business community, information technology professionals and civil right activists had long been urging the Pakistan government to introduce a comprehensive law to curb cybercrime in the country.