Journalists demand repeal of PECA hours after Senate passes bill amid outcry
Pakistan
Afzal Butt, Arshad Ansari, and Dunya Media Group MD Naveed Kashif participate in protests
Protests erupt in Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, Quetta and other places
PFUJ Secretary General Arshad Ansari hints at challenging bill in court
Senate passes PECA Amendment Bill 2025 amid opposition outcry
LAHORE (Dunya News) - Journalists across Pakistan took to streets in protest against the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2025, demanding its immediate repeal.
Demonstrations erupted in major cities, including Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi and Quetta, with journalists raising slogans against the government and rejecting the legislation.
Leading the protests were Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) President Afzal Butt (Islamabad) and Secretary General Arshad Ansari (Lahore), joined by senior media figures, civil society representatives, and prominent journalists including Asma Shirazi and Mazhar Abbas.
Dunya Media Group Managing Director Naveed Kashif also participated in Lahore's protest.
Addressing the crowd in Lahore, PFUJ Secretary General Arshad Ansari (who is also Lahore Press Club president) criticised PECA and said it's a draconian attempt to suppress press freedom.
“This legislation has been imposed without any consultation with the journalists. I warn the government against silencing our voices,” he said.
Ansari further pledged to disrupt parliamentary proceedings if their demands went unheeded, while also announcing plans to challenge the law in court after having a consultation with the Joint Action Committee.
The journalists having placards in their hands raised slogans against the controversial law.
SENATE PASSES PECA AMID UPROAR
Remaining impervious to criticism from journalists, human rights organisations and opposition benches, the Senate on Tuesday approved the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) Amendment Bill 2025 and the Digital Nation Bill 2025.
The bills, which kept the government and the opposition at daggers drawn for several days, were moved by Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Federal Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain on behalf of the interior minister, who is currently in the United States on a visit.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which is also an ally of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government in the center, also voted in favour of the bills. The PTI opposed the bills.
The PTI senators lodged their protest by gathering in front of Deputy Chairman Syedal Khan Nasir's dais. The opposition members raised slogans against approval of the PECA bill and tore its copies.
Journalists, on the other hand, staged walkout from the Press Gallery to register their protest.
The bills will be sent to President Asif Ali Zardari for presidential assent after which they will become law.
Speaking on the occasion, Rana Tanveer said the PECA bill was not applicable to TV or print media but it was meant to regulate digital and social media. He said PTI's Shibli Faraz had nearly accepted the bill.
Shibli Faraz said law-making was their prerogative but no law should be passed in haste. He said had the law been in favour of people, there would not have been any opposition to it. It should have been discussed threadbare, he said.
