The National Assembly passed a joint resolution against blasphemous social media content. The resolution was moved by PML (N) lawmaker Captain Retired Muhammad Safdar.
There was another resolution passed by Punjab Assembly as well adopting a similar resolution which strongly condemned blasphemous social media content.
Discussion on Blasphemous Social Media Content Earlier
One day before the resolution passed against blasphemous social media content; parliamentarians thoroughly discussed the issue in the National Assembly. Some of the parliamentarians went to the extreme of completely banning social media websites in Pakistan.
Captain Safdar’s Speech on Blasphemous Social Media Content
The son-in-law of PM, Captain Retired Safdar questioned the implementation of Cyber Crime Act. Here is what he had to say during his speech.
“Why are we being forced to lay our lives on the issue? Why does PTA not impose a ban on social media? This is going to lead the country towards anarchy.”
He also appreciated the strong stance taken by Islamabad High Court against the blasphemous content.
Cyber Crime Bill Already Passed by National Assembly
Here are some points from the Cyber Crime Bill which Captain Retired Safdar referenced in his speech at the National Assembly.
- The bill criminalizes sending text messages to someone without their consent or criticizing government’s actions on social media.
- Any user using the internet cannot criticize their country, religion, courts, and armed forces.
- The government can impose fine of up to PKR 10 million or award five-year imprisonment or both if someone is trying to create disputes or spreading hatred online by religion or sectarianism.
- The Government can impose fine of up to PKR 5 million or five-year imprisonment or both for a person trying to pass or copy sensitive information online.
- The Government can impose fine on a person for up to PKR 50,000 who sends irritating messages to others, including marketing messages. If the offender repeats the crime, Government can imprison them for three months and impose a fine of up to PKR 1 million.
- If a person creates a website for malicious purposes, the government may impose a fine of PKR 0.5 million and three-year imprisonment.
- The Government of Pakistan can impose a fine of up to PKR 1 million and one-year imprisonment on a person for forcing an individual into immoral activities online. The Government may also punish people behind uploading of some person’s pictures online without their consent, sending vulgar messages, or unnecessarily interfering online.
- The Government may punish a person with 7-year imprisonment, and a fine of up to PKR 10 million for a person interfering with sensitive data information systems.
- Punishment of accessing unauthorized data is a fine of PKR 50,000 or three-month imprisonment or both.
- If a person obtains another person’s identification to sell or retain it, the Government can impose a fine of PKR 5 million and three-year imprisonment.
- Also, if someone issues a SIM card in an unauthorized manner, it can result in three-year imprisonment and a fine of up to PKR 0.5 million.
- If a person makes changes in a wireless set or cell phone, punishment for this act is imprisonment for up to three-year and a fine of up to PKR 0.5 million.
- A penalty of up to three-year imprisonment and fine of up to PKR 1 million for spreading misinformation about some individual.
Note: Please feel free to let us know if we have misquoted a punishment or made any error. We love to stand corrected and ensure communicating the right position of law or regulation HoursTV. We included the details mentioned above for public information only. We cannot guarantee truthfulness or accuracy of this information, for that you need to consult your lawyer or read the Cyber Crime Bill of Pakistan.
