ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is working on a draft law to regulate social media to “protect digital rights” of millions of users, encourage responsible Internet use and regulate online content to prevent hate speech and disinformation, confirmed a senator belonging to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party on Saturday.
The authorities have long struggled to regulate the social media content through different legislations, prompting critics to accuse it of trying to quell dissent. The popular social media platform X remains blocked in the country after widespread allegations of election manipulation in the wake of the February 8 national polls.
Earlier this month, the government notified a National Cybercrimes Investigation Agency to probe electronic crimes and is now working on another draft law related to the social media content, making digital rights activists describe it as yet another official attempt to stifle criticism online.
“The government is currently working on a draft law to regulate the social media content as we want to curb disinformation and hate speech being spread through these platforms,” Senator Afnan Ullah Khan told Arab News.
“A committee led by the federal law minister is discussing the draft law as we have to ensure people’s right to freedom of speech and freedom of expression as well,” he continued, ruling out concerns the government wanted to muffle its rivals and critics.
Khan said the draft law would be tabled in parliament within four weeks for discussion and debate.
“The opposition parties or any parliamentarian can object to any clause of the bill once it is presented in parliament for vote,” he said.
“We want to protect digital rights of our users instead of imposing any restrictions, but at the same time we want those to be prosecuted who violate the law by inciting hate speech and pedaling disinformation, or any content against the national security,” he added.
The draft law may propose establishment of a digital rights protection authority to ensure effective enforcement of laws, Khan informed, but “all this will be disclosed to the media and public once the bill is tabled in parliament for discussion.”
Digital rights activists said successive governments in Pakistan had drafted new laws or amended old ones to curb the dissenting voices on social media platforms and file criminal charges against journalists and activists to restrict freedom of speech and expression.
“The government should involve all stakeholders, including civil society and rights activists, while drafting the new law to prevent its misuse,” Sabookh Syed, President of Digital Media Alliance of Pakistan, told Arab News.
“The government may strengthen defamation laws to prevent social media misuse instead of making it a criminal offense that could lead to persecution of activists and violate constitutional guarantees related to free speech,” he added.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday extended condolences to the Afghan government over the loss of more than 150 lives in flash floods in northern Afghanistan, the Pakistani foreign office said.
Heavy rains on Friday caused flash floods in Baghlan, Takhar and Badakhshan provinces that have killed 153 people and injured another 138, according to the interim Afghan interior ministry.
Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities sent helicopters overnight to assist civilians after reports emerged that over 100 people were stranded in these areas.
“The Government and the people of Pakistan express their heartfelt condolences on the tragic loss of life and widespread damage to property caused by heavy rains and flash floods in several provinces of Afghanistan,” the Pakistani foreign office said in a statement.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims, injured and the communities affected by this natural calamity and we pray for the early recovery of those missing.”
Pakistan stood in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan during this difficult time, it added.
Pakistan itself experienced its “wettest April since 1961,” the country’s weather agency said this month, with at least 144 deaths in thunderstorms and house collapses due to heavy rains.
April rainfall was recorded at 59.3 millimeters, “excessively above” the normal average of 22.5 millimeters, Pakistan’s metrology department said in its monthly climate report.
While much of Asia was sweltering due to heatwaves, Pakistan’s national monthly temperature for April was 23.67 degrees Celsius (74 degrees Fahrenheit) 0.87 degrees lower than the average of 24.54, the report noted.
In the summer of 2022, a third of Pakistan was submerged by unprecedented monsoon rains that displaced millions of people and cost the country $30 billion in damage and economic losses, according to a World Bank estimate.