The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday summoned representatives from the Punjab government and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) regarding petitions filed against the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2025.
Justice Farooq Haider presided over the hearing, where the federal government submitted its responses to the petitions. However, the Punjab government and PEMRA failed to provide their replies, drawing the court’s criticism, Express News reported.
During the proceedings, a lawyer representing the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) requested additional time to submit their response, but Justice Haider warned that the law would take its course if the court’s queries remained unanswered by the next hearing.
The court adjourned the hearing until March 13, 2025.
The government strengthened Peca with new amendments to tackle fake news and unlawful online content. The proposed Electronic Crimes Prevention (Amendment) Act 2025 introduced severe penalties, including up to three years in prison and fines of Rs2 million for spreading disinformation.
Last week, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that the original draft of the recent amendments to Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) was very strict, but his party suggested many changes to dilute it, Express News reports.
In an interview after addressing the Oxford Union, the PPP chairman stated that the PPP has always been against the original draft of Peca law, adding that former prime minister Imran Khan was the first to try such a harsh legislation.
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