Senate passes controversial PECA Act amendment bill

Islamabad: The Senate passed the PECA Act Amendment Bill.

After the National Assembly, the Senate also passed the PECA Act Amendment Bill.

During the approval of the Act, the opposition opposed the bill and protested, while journalists walked out during the proceedings of the Senate session.

Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shibli Faraz said that we are not supporting this bill. The minister’s words are correct no one supports spreading news based on lies. No partner is involved in it, the procedure of the bill is not correct, there is no institution formed for the cases, and there are no judges and lawyers.

In the Senate meeting, JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza said: “I had amendments to the PECA Act which were neither approved nor rejected by the committee. This is an incomplete report of the standing committee”.

After the approval of the bill, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) President Afzal Butt, while talking to a news channel, said that today the journalist community is observing Black Day across the country. “We will also challenge this bill in court on which discussions are underway with lawyers, and we will force the government to consult us on it”.

Definition of illegal content in PECA Act Amendment Bill

According to the amendment bill, the authority will consist of nine members, including the Home Secretary, Chairman PTA, Chairman PEMRA, ex-officio members of the authority, a bachelor's degree holder, and at least 15 years of experience in the field can be appointed as the chairman of the authority, and the chairman and five members will be appointed for five years.

The government has decided to provide representation to journalists in the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority. The five members will include a journalist with 10 years of experience, a software engineer, a lawyer, a social media professional, and an IT expert from the private sector.

It is pertinent to note that the Senate Standing Committee on Interior approved the PECA Amendment Bill yesterday, while the National Assembly has already approved the bill.