ome of the ‘original sins’ from the earliest years following the emergence of Pakistan continue to harm the society. Silencing undesirable expression is one of those. In his book, Press in Chains, journalist Zamir Niazi describes how an attempt was made to censor a portion of Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s speech in 1947. After the speech was over “the principal information officer, Col Majid Malik, phoned the Dawn office and instructed that the portion relating to citizens’ rights and religious beliefs should be omitted from the report.”

This tradition has continued during nearly all–civilian and martial law–administrations.

Even in the Age of Information, there are those who advocate some form of legislation to regulate mainstream media, social media as well as constitutionally granted freedoms. They argue that rights and responsibilities are intertwined.

Given the rampant fake news, some kind of regulation has perhaps become important. The story of how fake news in Myanmar caused a massacre of the Rohingya Muslims is a case in point. Amnesty International found that Facebook “algorithms proactively amplified and promoted content on the platform, which incited violence, hatred and discrimination against the Rohingya.” In 2018, a UN fact-finding mission reached the conclusion that by disseminating hate-filled content, Facebook had played a “determining role” in the ethnic cleansing campaign of the Rohingya.

Nevertheless, stakeholders across the political spectrum and professional divide need to be taken on board and their suggestions and recommendations accommodated before laws are enacted to govern a people. Only then do the laws acquire the required legitimacy, making their enforcement easy.

Pakistanis have witnessed a variety of laws enacted to ‘regulate’ or suppress or manage dissent. For its part, the government says that the authorities wish to curb fake news and promote truth. Truth, however, is often not an authentic representation of reality. Too often, it is something that focuses our attention to certain aspects of reality while inevitably ignoring equally essential other aspects. Hence, no representation can claim to be a complete account of reality. It may, however, be argued that some accounts of reality are more truthful than others in a particular context.

While some opportunities are eliminated by technology, certain others have been created. It is important to understand that information technology has rendered national boundaries, hegemony of nation states, and the so-called “ideological frontiers” increasingly immaterial and marginalised. Therefore, it is important for the state to create an intimate bond with its citizens and engage them in all kinds of decisions that impact their lives. Pakistan is a country of the youth; mostly tech-savvy and connected to social media. Imposing blanket restrictions on freedom of expression will be counterproductive and damaging to the youthful inquisitiveness and creativity of Pakistan’s young population.

Social media, according to political scientist Mohammad Waseem, “has not shown any capacity to rally the nation around a certain cause, especially a revolt against the system.” A major reason for this can be “the establishment’s penetration deep into social media through trolls, blogs and intermittent political threats against critics who were declared enemies of the nation.”

Many commentators rightly criticised the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 for threatening to erode human rights safeguards. It also afforded an opportunity for official abuse. Already, under the Protection of Pakistan Act and the Fair Trial Act, security and intelligence agencies possess enormous powers to investigate and, even stifle, rightful expression of disagreement and dissent.

In 2020, under a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government, the PECA was expanded to include a ban on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter (now X) and YouTube for online criticism of the government. It was generally believed that amendments were made by the government to use this law as an instrument of control and censorship. As if that were not enough, the PTI government, in 2021, issued a concept note for establishing the Pakistan Media Development Authority designed to empower the government to issue policy directives; cancel declarations of media outlets; certify their ratings and circulation; and investigate and adjudicate media-related complaints. All leading media bodies such as the CPNE, the PDA and the PFUJ rejected it.

The recent amendments to the PECA, titled as Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act, 2025, are controversial, not only for being hastily passed in the National Assembly and the Senate, without consultation of stakeholders and intensive debate in either house of the parliament, but also because these grant the government extensive and blanket control over social media content. The new provisions empower authorities to impose severe punishments and block content deemed “unlawful and offensive” or spreading disinformation. The amended law is believed to be designed to suppress freedom of expression and has caused widespread protests by journalists and rights activists throughout the country.

This law envisages establishing a range of regulatory and adjudicatory bodies, including the Digital Rights Protection Authority, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency to replace the FIA’s Cyber Crime Wing, and the Social Media Protection Tribunal besides redefining illegal online content and imposing severe penalties for disseminating false information or disinformation.

Investigative journalist Umar Cheema argues in Rethinking Pakistan: A 21st Century Perspective that freedom can only be protected by remaining vigilant about our rights and by adhering to journalistic standards. He reiterates that freedom is never granted, it has to be earned, and that the sooner a people realise this, the better it is for them.

The writer heads the History Department at University of Sargodha. He has worked as a research fellow at Royal Holloway College, University of London. He can be reached at abrar.zahoor@hotmail.com His X handle: @AbrarZahoor1