A jobless journalist and social media activist from Lahore has fallen prey to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016, which gives unquestionable powers to law-enforcement agencies to interpret anyone’s speech and penalise them. Azharul Haq Wahid, a jobless journalist, who was associated with a local daily and later a TV channel, was remanded in Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) custody by a magistrate in Lahore for three days in a case of sharing “anti-state” content on Facebook. The FIA arrested him on Thursday in a case registered against him under sections 11 and 20 of the PECA 2016, read with section 505 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The content of the first information report is as ridiculous as PECA 2016 itself. “It has been learnt during scrutiny of social media that anti-state and defamatory material against the public functionaries and state departments is being uploaded through a Facebook ID in the name of Wahid,” reads the FIR. The FIA has also raided his home to confiscate material supporting their stance. The counsel for the agency sought physical remand of Wahid for interrogation in “sharing anti-state material on Facebook”. What is anti-state content? The magistrate should have asked the lawyer. Earlier, the FIA instituted such cases against journalists Zafarullah Achakzai, Shahzeb Jilinai, Rizwan Razi and several social media activists, and but in vain. It made a mockery of freedom of expression when it launched inquiries against social media activists for displaying the image of slain Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi on social media during the visit of the Saudi crown king. This speaks volumes of the level of tolerance by state institutions for freedom of expression.
There has been an organised campaign by state elements and non-state actors to silence dissidents. Those who try to disagree with the state narrative often face a barrage of abuses and threats both online and offline.
Many journalists and social media activists have faced online harassment. Several activists have got their accounts suspended, allegedly by the interference of the state institutions. It is time the government to revise ill-defined cyber crime laws. Side by side, there is a need to educate the people about the usage of cyberspace. Granted, internet access and cyberspace have given a platform to people to defy state censorship and reach a wider global audience, but the facility must be used for constructive purposes, instead of sowing the seeds of hatred. Several posts of Razi and Wahid could fall under hate or controversial categories, but the remedy in not in state action. A social movement on the fair usage of cyber space could be an appropriate answer.
