HRCP holds national roundtable on alarming curbs to freedom of expression in Pakistan

Islamabad, July 18 (IANS) Amid growing concerns over the erosion of civil liberties, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), in collaboration with the European Union, convened a national roundtable in Islamabad to address the escalating restrictions on freedom of expression and the rapidly shrinking digital space in Pakistan.

The event brought together a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including academics, civil society representatives, legal experts, journalists, editors, and media practitioners, to deliberate on the implications of state-imposed controls and explore collective strategies to uphold constitutional rights.

The human rights body mentioned that on Thursday, addressing the session, Pakistani digital rights activist Farieha Aziz explained the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (PECA) (Amendment) Act 2025, passed by the Pakistani government, particularly Section 37, which grants vague and sweeping powers to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Earlier this week, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)urged Pakistan’s Supreme Court (SC) to review the PECA legislation and instruct the Shehbaz Sharif government to make changes to the act in consultation with the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and other relevant forums and media stakeholders.

The HRCP highlighted that several speakers pointed to the "lack of due process in recent actions taken against online content producers", while Pakistani Journalists Matiullah Jan and Asad Ali Toor “noted that YouTube channels were also blocked without any prior notice or valid legal proceedings.”

“Journalists from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan highlighted the difficulties of reporting from the two provinces saying that the repression in remote areas had now expanded to urban centres. There was consensus on the need to repeal or, at the very least amend the PECA 2016 law and its 2025 amendment,” the HRCP emphasised.

Pakistani Television host Absa Komal “observed a shift in censorship tactics, from arrests to economic pressure and institutional intimidation, leading many to self-censor,” and Resident editor of Pakistan’s newspaper Dawn Amir Wasim echoed Komal's views, said the HRCP.

“Anchorperson and a HRCP co-chair Munizae Jahangir warned that the authorities could exploit divisions within civil society and the media. She advocated for building an alliance of all relevant stakeholders. Advocate Talha Sarfraz Khan emphasised the need to differentiate defamation and harassment,” the human rights body added.

During the session, the HRCP said that Pakistani Lawyers Barrister Rida Hosain and advocate Usman Warraich criticised “the misuse of defamation laws, which serve to protect state institutions rather than citizens, highlighting the neglect of digital rights violations amount to a digital martial rule currently being experienced.”

Former senator and HRCP council member Farhatullah Babar “called for a commission to assess the misuse of the blasphemy laws in conjunction with PECA and for digital surveillance to be reviewed.”

“HRCP secretary-general Harris Khalique concluded the roundtable by saying that without freedom of expression, not a single rights issue -whether civil, economic or social- can be raised or voiced. He said that hate speech, online harassment and incitement to violence must be regulated, not the criticism of state policies and political dissent,” HRCP noted, detailing the restrictions on freedom of expression in Pakistan.

--IANS

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