An unwanted bill

The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill has been approved by NA Standing Committee on IT for debate in parliament

An important bill has been received with much criticism by the opposition and civil society, and rightly so. The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill has been approved by the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information Technology to be debated in parliament. And so, our worst nightmare might just come true. If approved, the government will unjustly hold citizens criminally liable for exercising their rights to freedom of speech and expression. Of course, the Pakistani state has not historically really been a proponent of that liberty for citizens. This now means that political cartoons, memes, opinions or commentary can be perceived as criminal offences. Sections 17 and 18 of the bill criminalise political criticism and expression, even in the form of analysis. In addition, unprecedented powers have been proposed to be given to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). The authority will have the power to take down websites that it perceives to be against the glory of Islam. In the past, the PTA has not exactly proved itself to be a good judge of what might be in the best interests of the public, and such arbitrary power given to it is uncalled for.

The parliamentary panel approved the bill despite significant criticism from members of the same panel, the opposition, as well as rights groups. Now, it is imperative that a sound and robust debate takes place in parliament, in an intelligible manner, before the bill — certainly not in its current form — is turned into law. There seems to be a new kind of democracy being introduced in Pakistan, where the label of democracy is there, but the actions and policies of the government seem to be very much dictatorial. We must brace ourselves, for we may no longer be able to enjoy political cartoons that cunningly capture an entire political story in a single drawing, or the satire of intelligent minds narrating the reality of political situations to lighten the seriousness of the political, social and economic debacles that comprise the Pakistani landscape. This bill, if passed in its current form, will only prove the proclivity of the powers that be towards authoritarian rule, which prevents us from becoming a tolerant nation. Our rulers continue to make decisions that lead to a stunting of educational growth through clamping down on open debate and intellectual analysis.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st,  2015.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.