HRCP Report Claims PECA 2025 Undermines Civil Liberties in Pakistan

In a revealing and damning report, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has sounded the alarm over the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2025, asserting that it serves more as an instrument of state control than a measure of citizen protection.

As the digital landscape continues to evolve globally, Pakistan's latest legislative turn signals not progress, but a retreat into authoritarianism—cloaked in the guise of cybersecurity and digital governance.

The HRCP’s comprehensive review of PECA 2025 paints a disturbing picture: far from safeguarding citizens from cybercrime, the act tightens the state’s grip on digital expression, dissent, and privacy.

The report accuses the government of using the law to target journalists, activists, and opposition voices under the pretext of maintaining public order and national security. The new amendments, rather than correcting the previous iteration’s excesses, have reportedly intensified the very concerns that drew criticism since PECA's original 2016 enactment.

One of the HRCP’s central concerns is the vague and overly broad language embedded in PECA 2025. Terms like “fake news,” “anti-state content,” and “cyberterrorism” lack precise legal definitions, thereby giving sweeping discretionary power to enforcement agencies.

This ambiguity, the report notes, allows authorities to apply the law selectively—often against individuals or groups critical of government policies.According to the HRCP, this vagueness is not incidental but intentional, designed to silence rather than shield.

Equally alarming is the expanded surveillance capability granted to state institutions. PECA 2025 has fortified the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and other security bodies with greater autonomy to monitor, intercept, and seize digital communications. The requirement of judicial oversight—long a demand by civil society groups—remains largely absent or is framed so weakly as to be ineffective.

The HRCP warns that such unchecked surveillance threatens the fundamental rights to privacy and due process, turning Pakistan’s cyberspace into a domain of suspicion and fear. In particular, the report singles out the disproportionate targeting of journalists and independent media.

Numerous cases are cited where journalists faced arrests, harassment, or cyber inquiries under PECA provisions for reporting on corruption, human rights abuses, or military overreach.

While the state insists it is merely combating disinformation, critics argue that this rationale has become a catch-all justification to stifle inconvenient truths. The HRCP asserts that this trend not only undermines press freedom but also erodes public trust in democratic institutions.PECA 2025’s chilling effect on civil society is palpable. Activists, especially those working on gender rights, minority issues, and political reform, report increased threats and digital harassment. Rather than acting as a deterrent to cyberbullying or hate speech, the law is seen to criminalise dissenting views, particularly when voiced online.

This atmosphere has led to growing self-censorship among human rights defenders, many of whom now tread carefully on social media to avoid state retribution.

The HRCP’s findings are especially concerning in light of Pakistan’s broader political climate. As the country grapples with economic instability, rising extremism, and dwindling press freedom, the state’s intolerance for criticism appears to be hardening. PECA 2025, in this context, does not emerge as an isolated legal development but as part of a larger authoritarian drift.

Civil liberties are increasingly seen as collateral damage in the state’s quest for control, and laws like PECA become the scaffolding for that control. Moreover, the HRCP report criticises the opaque legislative process that led to PECA 2025’s passage.

Stakeholder consultations were minimal, and parliamentary debate was cursory at best. Several digital rights groups, including the Digital Rights Foundation and Bolo Bhi, have echoed the HRCP’s frustration, claiming that their inputs were ignored and that the law’s enactment lacked both transparency and democratic legitimacy.

Perhaps the most worrying aspect of the HRCP report is its assessment of PECA 2025’s long-term implications. The law not only threatens to muzzle critical voices today but also sets a precedent for future state overreach. In a digital era where online platforms are essential for political engagement, activism, and journalism, such legislation risks turning the internet into a space policed by fear rather than governed by freedom.

International watchdogs have taken notice. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have both flagged PECA 2025 as a regressive measure, urging Pakistani authorities to align digital laws with international human rights standards. The HRCP underscores that while states have a legitimate interest in countering cybercrime, that objective cannot come at the expense of free speech and civil liberties.

Pakistan’s trajectory on digital rights remains fraught. The HRCP’s report lays bare the dangers of PECA 2025 not as a flawed attempt at reform, but as a deliberate mechanism for suppression. The law exemplifies how national security rhetoric can be wielded to curtail freedoms and how legislative tools can be repurposed into instruments of control. As Pakistan continues to present itself as a democratic state on the global stage, PECA 2025 stands in stark contradiction to those claims. Read 'Zamin' on Telegram!