Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) welcomes the ruling of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to strike down the draconian Pakistan Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Ordinance, 2022. This proposed amendment was a brazen move by the federal government to stifle free speech, intimidate and muzzle the media and to create red lines for them to operate within. The […]

LAHORE: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has closed nearly 7,000 inquiries/actions initiated countrywide under section 20 of the recently promulgated Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act (Peca) Ordinance of 2022. A majority of these complaints were related to defamation and serious threats the citizens were receiving from the Twitter and Facebook accounts. The decision came […]

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday struck down the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Ordinance, 2022, terming it “unconstitutional”. IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah issued a four-page order while hearing identical petitions filed against the controversial Peca ordinance and its section 20, which criminalizes defamation. The court had earlier reserved its verdict. In […]

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Federal Union Journalists (PFUJ) has strongly condemned reported and alleged life threats to television anchor Saleem Safi. PFUJ President Shazada Zulfiqar and Secretary-General Nasir Zaidi, in a statement, urged the federal authorities to ensure the safety and security of the journalists and media workers. They said it is unfortunate that in a politically charged […]

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has issued a show-cause notice to the head of Dunya News over airing indecent and abusive remarks by the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant Shahbaz Gill against parliamentarian Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani during the program ‘On Front with Kamran Shahid’ without any editorial control or utilizing time-delay mechanism. According to […]

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Wednesday that he agreed to the opposition’s demand of withdrawing the PECA ordinance following the deliberations and finalisation of draft by joint action committee members. The PTI minister said this while speaking in a private news channel when the news anchor asked him […]

ISLAMABAD: After the former Lahore High Court bar president, different journalist associations of Pakistan have also challenged the recently promulgated Pakistan Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act ordinance 2022 (PECA) in the Islamabad High Court. The challenged law has triggered protests from media bodies and civil society who have termed it a “draconian law”. The journalist associations, […]