The bill was initially approved by the National Assembly in April, earlier this year, but the Senate did not approve of it back then and demanded amendments to the bill. The bill will now become a law after asserting by the President.
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However, the government used its superior numbers in the house to pass the bill through a voice vote.
Named as “The Prevention of Electronic Crimes bill, 2016”, the legislation was recently passed from Upper House of parliament unanimously with over 50 amendments before being referred to the National Assembly.
Strongly opposing the bill, PPP’s parliamentary leader Syed Naveed Qamar yesterday said that there were certain objectionable clauses in the bill which would affect innocent persons.
The bill was first introduced in the National Assembly in January 2015, shortly after the National Action Plan was introduced in the aftermath of the Taliban attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar. The law will also apply to expatriates and electronic gadgets will be accepted as evidence in a special court.
The Minister came hard on members of the opposition for opposing the bill again, adding that members belonging to same opposition parties had already supported it in the Senate.
MQM lawmaker Ali Raza Abidi also deplored certain sections of the bill, which, he said, are totally unacceptable.
“Our youth is getting politicised and it is for the good of country but passage of this bill will discourage them to take part in political activities or debate (on cyberspace)”, he said. They pointed out the punishments recommended in the bill are disproportionately harsh in comparison to the crimes.
A number of public hearings were held on the bill and later that was approved by the committee of experts, she added.
Meanwhile, the country’s IT Minister Anusha Rehman told parliament: “Criticism regarding the bill is baseless as proposed amendments have been included”.
Farieha Aziz, director of the Bolo Bhi digital rights group, told AFP news agency a section meant to tackle cyber-stalking was drafted in sweeping language that would allow public officials criticised on social media to claim they were being harassed.
The government has been arguing that the legislation is aimed at preventing online harassment, cyber-stalking and terrorist activities. Nearly three months and fifty amendments later, the Senate adopted the Cyber Crime Bill and it was then only a matter of time before it became law. Illegal use of internet data will cost three-year jail terms and Rs1 million fine.
A clause about “interference with critical infrastructure information” says if anyone with dishonest intention infers with or damages, or causes to be interfered with or damaged any part or whole shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to seven years.
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Other offences include unauthorised use of identity information, unauthorised issuance of SIM cards, unauthorised interception, tampering of communication equipment, malicious code, spamming and spoofing.
