Peca bill introduced in the Senate amid opposition protests – Pakistan

The Senate on Tuesday moved a motion to pass the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) Bill, 2025 amid protests by the opposition in the house.

The motion was moved by Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain.

The Senate today is set to greenlight amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) Bill, 2025, while the opposition and journalists strongly criticised the changes to the country’s cybercrime laws.

The National Assembly rushed the controversial amendments to Peca last week amid protests, with PTI lawmakers and journalists walking out of proceedings. PPP members had voiced their support during the voting. The bill is now with the Senate after being referred to the Standing Committee on Interior, which also approved it yesterday, essentially clearing the last obstacle for it to become law.

The contentious provision in the bill, Section 26(A), to Peca, seeks to penalise perpetrators of “fake news” online. It says anyone who intentionally spreads, displays, or transmits false information likely to cause fear, panic, or unrest in society may face up to three years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to Rs2 million, or both.

The Senate is scheduled to meet at 11:30am, and the orders of the day for the house have already been issued by the respective secretariat.

According to the day’s agenda, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi will move the bill “further to amend the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 [The
Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Bill, 2025], as reported by the
Standing Committee, be taken into consideration at once”.

The Digital Nation Pakistan Bill 2025, which aims to create a digital identity for citizens, was also included in the agenda.

Meanwhile, the motion to present Digital Nation Pakistan Bill, moved by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar. in the session was approved amid protests by opposition.

According to the report issued by the Senate Standing Committee on Interior, the bill “primarily seeks to modernise … the legislative framework for combating cybercrimes in Pakistan”, while the interior secretary emphasised that the bill was written in good faith and aimed to “protect the general public … and to make the in-field act more effective to protect people’s rights”.

After the committee’s approval, now only the senators have to vote for the bill to be sent to the president who would sign it into law.

In Section 26A of the amended law, the term has been explained as any information disseminated by a person that “he knows or has reason to believe to be false or fake and likely to cause or create a sense of fear, panic or disorder or unrest in general public or society”.

Seperately, the National Assembly had also passed “The Digital Nation Pakistan Bill, 2024” which was moved by Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja.

The bill aims to create a digital identity for citizens — to centralise social, economic and governance data — and to provide for the transformation of Pakistan into a digital nation, enabling a digital society, digital economy and digital governance.

Journalists express concerns, assail govt