The draft cybercrime bill was forcefully cleared by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology on Thursday and sent to the National Assembly for final approval without showing the members the copy of the bill.The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015 had become controversial as critics believed it curtailed civil liberties. In January 2015, the Ministry of IT submitted the bill to the National Assembly for voting. However, it was referred to the standing committee to address concerns raised by the opposition members and stakeholders from the industry.
Opposition leaders and local NGOs believed the proposed bill was too harsh and curbed human rights besides giving abusive powers to law enforcement agencies. Representatives from the industry argued that the bill would harm their businesses. According to critics, the proposed bill criminalised minor activities such as sending text messages without the receiver’s consent or criticising government actions on the social media punishable with fines and long-term imprisonments. The bill would allow law enforcement agencies to have sweeping powers to arrest anyone by easily bypassing court permission or warrant. With such stipulations that go against all protections for privacy, individual freedom and rights to due process, the way that the bill was fast-tracked through parliament is appalling. It was high time that legislators started doing their job. At the time that the bill was being discussed on the parliament floors, experts from the IT field who were consulted felt that their recommendations had been disregarded by the parliamentary committee in-charge of the bill.
What is becoming clear is that good legislation is not the forte of the PML-N. The Cybercrime bill should have never made it to the floor, its terms are so draconian. The PPP, though seen as a fading and failing party, is the only one who has made attempts towards any progressive laws. On Monday, the Senate passed four bills including anti-honour killings and anti-rape laws all moved by a PPP senator.
The “desperate times call for desperate measures” argument for national security needs to be put away. There is a fine line between privacy and security but the state and its myopic apparatus is giving the people too little and asking for too much. Privacy is the right of every person and it is surprising to see Pakistanis give up their rights so easily. The support for laws like the Cybercrime bill comes from a lack of awareness about what the law actually means for freedom and criminal prosecution.
pk.shafaqna.com
