Pakistan Senate votes to ban fake news on social media
Pakistan's Senate has voted to criminalize the "willful" spread of false information, with prison sentences of up to three years. Journalists and opposition figures say the law could be used to suppress dissent.
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Pakistan's parliament building in Islamabad
Pakistan's upper house of parliament votes to tighten controls on fake news Image: Aamir
Pakistan's upper house of parliament on Tuesday approved a bill that would criminalize the spread of false information online.
The bill had already been approved by the National Assembly last week.
What do we know about the bill? The law would target anyone who "intentionally disseminates" information that they have "reason to believe is false or falsified and is likely to cause or create fear, panic, disorder or disorder."
It would allow authorities to jail social media users for up to three years for spreading misinformation and provide for fines of up to 2 million rupees ($7,121, 6,822 euros).
The legislation would also create an agency with the power to immediately block content deemed "illegal and offensive" on social media.
Pakistan's media regulator blocked Wikipedia in 2023 for "blasphemous content," but the ban was lifted a few days later at the request of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
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Journalists boycott controversial vote
The passage of the bill was accompanied by a strike by journalists in the Senate press gallery.
Asif Bashir Chaudhry, a member of the Pakistan Federation of Journalists, told AFP news agency that journalists felt betrayed by the government. "We really wanted a law against disinformation, but if it is not implemented through open debate, but rather through fear and coercion, we will challenge it on every available platform," he said.
Members of the center-left Pashtun Awami National Party (ANP), which is part of the ruling coalition in the Senate, also walked out of the polling station on Tuesday, Pakistani media reported.
Pakistani PTI senator Shibli Faraz at a press conference Pakistani PTI senator Shibli Faraz at a press conference
Opposition lawmaker Shibli Faraz condemned the bill as "undemocratic."
Shibli Faraz, who is the leader of the opposition in the Senate and a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, argued that the bill was rushed through and without consulting stakeholders.
He was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying that the bill was "highly undemocratic" and would lead to the targeting of PTI party activists.
Pakistani authorities have imposed several internet shutdowns amid protests by PTI supporters, who have called for Khan's release and say his corruption conviction was politically motivated.
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