PFUJ challenges PECA Amendment Act in IHC

Islamabad: The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has challenged the PECA Amendment Act 2025 in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

PFUJ President Afzal Butt has filed a petition in the IHC through Advocate Imran Shafiq, in which it has been stated that the PECA Amendment Act is unconstitutional and illegal and an attack on the freedom of the press.

The petition filed in the court further states that the PECA Act is a restriction on freedom of expression, an increase in government control. The court is requested to suspend the law against freedom of the press, PECA 2025.

The petitioner took the position that the PECA Amendment Act 2025 is against Articles 19 and 19A of the Constitution. The PECA Amendment Act gives unlimited powers to government censorship.

Decriminalizing fake news without legal process is unconstitutional and a ban on freedom of the press. The PECA Amendment Act is the worst violation of international human rights and digital rights in Pakistan. There is no constitutional status of the regulatory authority under PECA, added the petition.

While talking to the media, Imran Shafiq, the lawyer of the petitioner filed against the PECA Act, said that this law is a ban on freedom of the press. The government wants to crush freedom of expression.

He said that there is no mechanism to fix fake information. The police can arrest me anytime under a cognizable offense. It will take me 3-4 years in the courts to defend myself.