JIT to probe 'malicious' social media campaigns

The government on Saturday formed a joint investigation committee (JIT) to probe those creating "chaos and disorder" in the country through "malicious social media campaigns".

A notification issued by the government stated that the JIT, formed under Section 30 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), will be led by the Inspector General of Islamabad.

The team includes the Director of Cyber Crime at the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Director of the FIA's Counter-Terrorism Wing (CTW), the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Investigation Islamabad, and the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Islamabad's Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD).

The JIT is tasked with investigating the motives behind malicious campaigns against the state and identifying the culprits and their facilitators who attempt to create chaos in Pakistan through social media.

According to the legal framework, the JIT will not only identify these individuals but also pursue legal action against them.

While the move comes days after the interior ministry announced a JIT was being formed to probe the suspicion of PTI's alleged involvement in "anti-state propaganda", the notification does not mention the party.

PTI information secretary Raoof Hasan was arrested on Monday during a raid conducted by the Islamabad police and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on the party's Central Office.

Subsequently, it had emerged that the FIA's cybercrime wing had booked Hasan and 11 others under Sections 9 (glorification of an offence), 10 (cyberterrorism) and 11 (electronic forgery) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (Peca).

The physical remand of Hasan and eight others was extended on Thursday and is due to expire tomorrow, while two women named in the case were remanded into judicial custody.

PTI MNA Gohar Khan had linked the action against his party to the Supreme Court's order in the reserved seats case, which set the PTI to emerge as the single largest party in the National Assembly.

"Any other co-opted member" could also be made part of the JIT, the notification stated.

It added the JIT shall "investigate and determine the organised objectives of the accused and their accomplices who have created chaos and disorder in Pakistan through malicious social media campaign".

It would "identify and prosecute the culprits in accordance with the applicable laws" with the Islamabad police headquarters providing secretarial support to the JIT, the ministry notification said.

According to Section 30 of Peca, upon an authorised officer furnishing an application, a court may issue a warrant allowing an FIA officer "with such assistance as may be necessary, to enter the specified place and to search the premises and any information system, data, device or storage medium relevant to the offence […] access, seize or similarly secure" such items.

The application should demonstrate "to the satisfaction of the court that there exist reasonable grounds to believe that there may be in a specified place an information system, data, device or other articles that (a) may reasonably be required for the purpose of a criminal investigation or criminal proceedings which may be material as evidence" or have been "acquired by a person as a result of the commission of an offence".

Section 30 also allows search and seizure by a "Gazetted officer of the investigation agency" in "circumstances involving an offence under section 10, under which a warrant may be issued but cannot be obtained without the apprehension of destruction, alteration or loss of data information system, data, device or other articles required for investigation", given that the "authorised officer shall immediately but not later than 24 hours" bring the action to the notice of a court.

"The court on receipt of such information may pass such orders as deemed appropriate in the circumstances of the case," Section 30 states.

Meanwhile, the FIA obtained another three-day physical remand of Liaquat Ali, who was arrested in a case involving PTI social media workers.