By Rehan Piracha
Notable rights activists from all spheres including veteran artist Salima Hashmi, journalist and co-chair person of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Munizae Jahangir, and digital rights activist (director of Bolo Bhi) Usama Khilji were part of the delegation, along with other HRCP members. These included the Director, Farah Zia, Vice Chairperson Raja Ashraf and council member Robina Azhar.
Journalists Welcome Allies
The delegation was received by Arshad Ansari, General Secretary of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and President of the Lahore Press Club. The PFUJ had invited the civil society leaders as part of its mass contact drive against the controversial cybercrime law.
Addressing a joint press conference with Ansari at the Lahore Press Club, the civil society leaders stood in solidarity with the demonstrating journalists for demanding to scrap the controversial cybercrime law.
Salima Hashmi addressed the gathering assuring them that civil society was standing with all those citizens whose voices were being silenced.
“The PECA Amendment Act is not just an attack on journalists but on every Pakistani’s right to speak freely,” she added. Hashmi said she was here because her father poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz, had also been a journalist and even then, as an eight-year-old child, she had seen her father being arrested over his journalistic duties.
Journalists and HRCP co-chair person Munizae Jahangir also strongly criticised the PECA amendments, stating that they create an ‘unnecessary parallel judicial system’. She emphasised that the government has a pattern of establishing needless tribunals without public support.
“While fake news is not as pressing a public issue as enforced disappearances, the government has prioritised creating tribunals for fake news while ignoring calls to criminalise enforced disappearances,” she said.
“The PECA Amendment Act is unconstitutional and violates Pakistan’s commitments to international civil rights covenants. The law’s vague and overly broad definitions of fake news could be used to suppress dissent,” she said.
Jahangir also noted that the law undermines citizens’ right to appeal in high courts, effectively negating fundamental rights. She said the amendments in the PECA law should be abolished and nothing less would be acceptable to journalists and civil society.
Digital rights activist Usama Khilji also strongly the criticised parliamentarians for not making the effort to thoroughly examine legislation like the PECA Amendment Act that has affected the freedom of expression of millions of citizens. He said that the law’s provision which allowed any person to file a complaint—even if they were not directly affected—made the law susceptible to misuse.
“Journalists can have cases being lodged against them in different cities like Quetta and Karachi, and would have to go there to face trials,” said Khilji. “Effective law and policymaking should be inclusive, involving consultancy with stakeholders who were directly affected, legal experts, media representatives, and young people who constitute the majority of internet users.”
‘Worse for Journalists’
Senior journalist Zahid Hussain added that the Act would end up primarily hitting journalists but also had broader implications for citizens.
“Simple conversations of citizens in WhatsApp groups could lead to implication of cases under this cybercrime law,” he said. “PECA’s amendments have left no space for journalists to point out irregularities and wrongdoings of government officials and leaders. Under the law, the government will act as a judge, jury, and executioner.”
Hussain called for PFUJ to lead a broader movement of citizens, civil society, and lawyers against the authoritarian legislation by the government.
Arshad Ansari said journalists would not stay silent against the ‘black law’.
“If the government does not revoke these amendments, we will march to parliament and escalate our protests,” he declared. “This law is an attack on press freedom, and we will resist it at all costs.”
Nationwide protests
Since the enactment of the amendments, journalists and media workers have staged nationwide protests. On Friday, journalists in Islamabad marched from the National Press Club to the entrance of the Red Zone, where PFUJ leaders addressed the demonstrators. They warned authorities that journalists would breach barriers and march to parliament if a sit-in was announced. These rallies marked the conclusion of the third phase of PFUJ’s protest campaign against the PECA amendments.
The PFUJ has also initiated a mass contact drive, inviting civil society organizations and trade unions to join the planned sit-in opposite parliament.
The HRCP has expressed deep concern over the PECA Amendment Act 2025, warning that it could become a tool for targeting political workers, human rights defenders, journalists, and dissidents by penalizing criticism of state institutions. The HRCP reminded the government that digital freedoms are already over-regulated, harming the public’s right to information and connectivity, which are essential for a 21st-century democracy.
The protests and statements from civil society and journalists reflect widespread opposition to the PECA amendments, which are seen as a threat to freedom of expression and fundamental rights in Pakistan.