The Federal Union of Journalists of Pakistan (PFUJ) announced Thursday that it would observe a “Black Day” tomorrow with a series of national demonstrations in amendment protest to the Law on the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (PECA) that were recently approved.
President Asif Ali Zardari gave his consent a day ago to the amendments to the 2016 PCA Law, despite the general reaction of political parties, journalist organizations and human rights organizations. The new provisions introduce harder sanctions, so the Government considers “false news”, expands the state supervision of digital platforms and provides for the creation of new regulatory bodies to monitor social networks.
A PFUJ statement issued today with respect to tomorrow’s protest plan said: “In the appeal of PFUJ, black flags will be raised in press clubs and union offices throughout the country and demonstrations of protest will be made against the PCA law.
“On this day, all journalists will use black bracelets and cover official and non -governmental events.”
The joint statement issued by the president of PFUJ, AFZAL BUTT, and the Secretary General Arshad Ansari said that none of those interested in the Chamber of Parliament consulted the interested parties and journalists about the amendments.
“Despite the repeated appeals of the joint action committee, the president signed the bill without giving them the opportunity to meet, which is unfortunate,” said the leadership of the union.
Butt and Ansari said that the PFUJ had launched a “movement of press freedom”, which would include the mass mobilization of journalists and human rights activists, followed by a sitting outside the house of Parliament “to repeal this black law.”
Critics see legislation as a tool to suppress dissent and silence critical voices, while the government insists that it is necessary to combat misinformation.
Journalists have assaulted legislation as an “attack on freedom of expression”, while the PTI opposition has also vociferantly protested the hurried passage of legislation in Parliament. The PPP, accused of the opposition of hypocrisy for supporting the bill, has hinted more adjustments to address journalists’ concerns.
HRCP form ‘coalition for freedom of expression’
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Human Rights Commission (HRCP) organized an advisory session in a hotel in Islamabad in the Peque amendments and announced the creation of a “great coalition for freedom of expression.”
According to an HRCP press release, the session attended the president of PFUJ, Butt, the president of the Bar Association of the Supreme Court (SCBA), Mian Rouf Atta, and journalists Hamid Mir and Matiullah Jan, among others.
“The participants observed with great disappointment that those political parties that had condemned previous iterations of Peca had not lost time when approved the PCA law (amendment),” says the press release.
“They demanded that all these parties clarify their position on freedom of expression and censored them by capitulating the establishment in this matter.”
The participants emphasized that the definition of “false news” in the bill was too vague and could be misused to suppress the dissent.
“The fact that the law now allowed anyone to file a complaint without necessarily being a harmed part left it open to broad misuse,” added the press release.
The balance of the consequences of “false news” against the constitutional right of freedom of expression was also discussed.
“The consultation concluded with a resolution to form a great coalition for freedom of expression, including PFUJ, SCBA, HRCP, Digital Media Alliance for Pakistan, Freedom Network, IRADA (Institute for Research, Defense and Development), Wajah, Bolo BHI and The Pakistan anchor association, ”concluded the press release.
