The same old rules

Regulating social media has been a consistent bone of contention in Pakistan for the past few years, the effort stymied by the government’s insincerity to an inclusive and constructive process. The feedback from relevant stakeholders – internet services providers, social media companies, civil society collectives, lawyers groups, and media unions – have not been considered despite countless detailed analyses, comparison with best practices, and petitions in courts. 

In the past week, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom has now published the third version of the social media rules, this time titled the Removal of Unlawful Online Content Rules 2021. The process has now become an insult to the intelligence of the key stakeholders that the government pretends to consult each time a round is announced after rules are notified, resulting in the same old draft restructured and presented as fresh and reviewed. 

The contentious issue at the heart of the exercise of attempting to regulate social media in Pakistan is the state’s blatant desire to control narratives on social media and silence any criticism. This is manifested in the draconian Section 37 – Unlawful online content – of the parent law of the Rules which is the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016. 

Section 37 is especially unnecessary when PECA already includes several clauses that protect citizens from harm, and make stipulations for removal or blocking of online content related to “offences against the dignity of a natural person” under section 20, abused by harassers that abuse it to silence survivors that speak out; “offences against a natural person or minor” under section 21; child pornography under section 22; and cyber stalking under section 24. This means that even if section 37 was scrapped – which it should be – there would still be avenues to protect citizens against actually harmful content. There are also clauses related to terrorism, hate speech, and recruitment, funding, and planning of terrorism to protect citizens.

The bad intent of Section 37 is made obvious not only by the same draconian content of the rules that are regurgitated; but statements of the civil and military leadership regarding social media, the concerted hateful troll campaigns against any person who dares to raise questions regarding state policies, and the reported coordinated inauthentic behavior by networks associated with state institutions that social media companies have routinely cracked down upon.

Any social media regulation must rule out any possibility of banning entire platforms that millions rely on for business and speech rights, in order to curb uncertainty in the economy – a factor that gravely taints growth prospects. 

Usama Khilji

The Rules attempt to impose a government defined set of restrictions based on the provisos of Article 19 of the Constitution that are supposed to be subject to interpretation narrowly by the higher judiciary. Rule 4 empowers the Pakistan telecommunications Authority (PTA) to interpret these restrictions – namely in the interest of “glory of Islam”, “security of Pakistan”, “public order”, “decency and morality”, and “integrity, or defence of Pakistan”. In response to earlier criticism regarding broad powers of political censorship given to the PTA, the rules were expanded with the addition of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) sections added to under each of the above-mentioned categories. Such obfuscation of multiple legal instruments in an additional one undermines the principles of necessity, proportionality, and justice for online content moderation.

When draconian rules are promulgated, expected to be followed, and platforms threatened with complete blocking in the country; it not only restricts the fundamental right to freedom of speech, but also gravely impacts the economy. The creative industry, information technology sector worth billions of dollars, and investors that may want to do business and investment in Pakistan are discouraged. Pakistan suffered with the four-year ban on YouTube. Any social media regulation must rule out any possibility of banning entire platforms that millions rely on for business and speech rights, in order to curb uncertainty in the economy – a factor that gravely taints growth prospects. 

The good news is that there has been effective resistance against draconian proposals as of late. The rules have been criticised by multi-stakeholder coalitions to the point the government had to make cosmetic changes to them. These were challenged before the Islamabad High Court, with the Attorney general having to commit to more consultations, probably realising the court would not let the rules be, considering its learned comments on calling the rules prima facie in violation of Article 19 of the Constitution that protects freedom of speech. After the latest cosmetic revision, it is hoped that the court will hold the government accountable for its insincere efforts. 

The government also backtracked on the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority ordinance draft after the backlash it faced, and there are now amendments being proposed to PECA related to child safety and bullying, with fears being that these may be further exploited to crackdown on dissent.

This vicious cycle of bringing in laws and rules to protect citizens but abusing them for only furthering state’s perceived interests needs to end. Constitutional rights cannot be ignored, nor can be the potential of the internet for furthering these rights and providing opportunities in an economy where unemployment and inflation are endemic.

– Usama Khilji is Director at Bolo Bhi, an advocacy forum for digital rights. 

Tweets at @UsamaKhilji