Senate Committee Approves Amendments to Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2025
ISLAMABAD – The Senate Standing Committee on Interior has approved the amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), paving the way for the bill to become law. The committee meeting, held at Parliament House on Monday, was chaired by Senator Faisal Saleem Rahman from PTI.
The Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which was already passed by the National Assembly, was introduced in the Senate by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on January 24. After deliberations, the committee approved the bill, which will now be sent to the Senate for a final vote before being sent to the president for signing into law.
During the meeting, Senator Rahman highlighted that committee members were prepared to offer constructive suggestions to improve the bill. However, he pointed out that no journalist organizations had submitted any written concerns or feedback to the committee.
Despite protests from PTI earlier, Senator Rahman, a member of the party, supported the amendments. The only opposition came from Senator Kamran Murtaza of JUIF, who attended the meeting on special invitation to express his views on the amendments. Murtaza raised concerns over the rush to approve the bill, questioning the speed and adequacy of the consultation process.
He also criticized the bill for not clearly defining “fake news” and questioned how it would be determined what news was fake. Under Section 26A of the amended law, the term “fake news” refers to any information a person knows or believes to be false, which could cause panic, fear, or disorder in the public.
Murtaza warned that the current government could also fall victim to this law, should it be implemented as is.
The bill’s approval by the Senate committee marks the final step before it becomes law, unless further delays occur.
Tags: PECA amendments, Senate committee, fake news, Pakistan law, prevention of electronic crimes, digital law Pakistan, PECA bill 2025.
Disclaimer: Above information have been compiled from various reports and published for information purpose only
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