Pakistan’s National Assembly has passed the highly controversial “The Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Bill, 2025,” tightening controls on digital media and curbing free speech under cyber law provisions. The PECA law imposes a three-year prison sentence and a fine of Rs2 million for spreading fake news or false information.
The government has introduce this law to suppress freedom of speech that challenges their narrative. In simple terms, the state wants citizens to echo its beliefs, punishing anyone who dares to speak differently with imprisonment.
Under the PECA law, a new wing has been created to enforce its provisions, replaced the FIA with a newly named body tasked with removing content from digital platforms and penalizing dissenters.
In 2025, political parties that claim to uphold democracy and freedom of speech have passed this draconian law, aligning themselves with authoritarianism instead of democratic principles.
The Pakistan government has already imposed controls digital platforms, including blocking X (Formerly Twitter) and slowing down internet service. Provinces like Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are said to have faced internet shutdowns. Now, with the enactment of this new law to regulate digital platforms and media, Pakistan is becoming an authoritarian state.
It comes as no surprise that the government, seeking to tighten its grip on digital platforms, hastily passed the PECA Act. Meanwhile, 11 journalists were killed last year, yet the issue of their safety remains largely unaddressed.
In 2024 World Press Freedom Index, Pakistan has fallen to 152nd out of 180 countries. Through this law, political parties, along with establishment, are closing off what little space remains for freedom of speech in the country.
Through such draconian laws—the government is not only stifling free speech but also undermining the already fragile democratic fabric of the country. Freedom of speech is the lifeblood of democracy, but by supporting this law, political parties in the parliament are further diminishing the dwindling hope for democratic process.
The responsibility now falls journalists to unite against this draconian law, which threatens the essence of free speech and seeks control digital media. Journalists have a long history of standing up to dictatorship in defense of free speech, and once again, it must rise to challenge this repressive law.