ISLAMABAD: A new law in Pakistan aimed at regulating social media content has angered journalism groups and rights activists, which say it is aimed at curbing press freedom and called on Friday for nationwide protests next week.
Parliament introduced and passed the amendments to the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act on Thursday.
The new regulations will set up a social media regulatory authority that will have its own investigation agency and tribunals, according to a draft on the parliament’s website. Such tribunals will be able to try and punish offenders with prison sentences of up to three years and fines of two million rupees ($7,200) for dissemination of “false or fake” information.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told parliament on Thursday the law was introduced to block fake and false news on social media, which he said had no specific regulations to govern it.
The president of Pakistan’s Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Afzal Butt, said the government had not consulted any journalistic bodies before introducing the law, adding he believed it was intended to gag freedom of speech and intimidate journalists and their media outlets.
“We reject this unilateral decision by the government to set up any such tribunals,” Butt told Reuters. “We also are in favor of regulations, but, you know, a law enforcement agency or a police officer can’t decide what is false or fake news.”
The PFUJ said in a statement it would start countrywide rallies against the new law next week and that if the law was not withdrawn, it would stage a sit-in protest outside parliament.
Digital rights activists also criticized the new law.
Reporters Without Borders, an organization that promotes and defends press freedom, ranked Pakistan low on its 2024 world Press Freedom Index, at number 152. The group also says Pakistan is one of the most dangerous places for journalists to work.

ISLAMABAD: Afghan refugees on Friday appealed to Pakistan’s premier to ease a visa regime on humanitarian grounds after President Donald Trump paused the US refugee programs.
Many Afghans whose visas have either expired or will expire soon fear arrest and deportation.
“We don’t know exactly when the pause of the US refugee program will be lifted, but we request Pakistan to extend our stay for at least six months after the expiry of our visas,” said Ahmad Shah, a member of the Afghan USRAP Refugees advocacy group.

An estimated 20,000 Afghans are currently waiting in Pakistan to be approved for resettlement in the US via an American government program.
Refugees approved to travel to the United States in coming days have had their travel plans canceled by the Trump administration. Among those affected are the more than 1,600 Afghans cleared to resettle in the US
Pakistan says it is yet to receive any official intimation from the United States about the suspension of the refugee program. Afghans who are in the country were supposed to be relocated by September 2025.
The refugee program was set up to help Afghans at risk under the Taliban because of their work with the US government, media, aid agencies and rights groups. The US pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021 when the Taliban took power.

But in its first days in office, Trump’s administration announced the US Refugee Admissions Program would be suspended from Jan. 27 for at least three months.
Shah said most of the Afghans who are in transition to the United States were now living in a very difficult conditions. “We don’t want to live here permanently, we urge the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to order authorities to extend the visas of Afghan people for at least six months,” he said.
He also urged the United Nations refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration to help Afghans who are waiting for relocation. “If the UNHCR and IOM don’t help us in this difficult situation, who will rise his or her voice for us?” Shah said.
Meanwhile, there is uncertainty among many over their future.

Sarfraz Ahmed, a journalist who fled to Pakistan from Afghanistan when the Taliban seized power, said Friday he had been expecting to receive a call confirming his travel plans, but the suspension of the refugee program by Trump changed everything.
Khalid Khan, a former Afghan army captain who worked for the Afghan air force and helped the US air force during the operations against the Afghan Taliban and other groups, fled his country along with his family in 2023. “I will be in a trouble if I am sent back to Afghanistan,” he said.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said there is an agreement with Washington to take Afghans who are in Pakistan to the United States for resettlement by September 2025.
“The arrangements are in place. We have, so far officially, not received any further information on this issue. So that’s all that I can say as far as we are concerned, that arrangement remains in place,” ministry spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan told a news briefing in Islamabad on Thursday.

The Taliban has deprived 1.4 million Afghan girls of schooling through bans, according to the United Nations. Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans female secondary and higher education.