Pakistan aims to tackle the issue of misinformation in the digital age by making several amendments in PECA. In the contemporary era, Pakistan faces serious challenges regarding the growing threat of misinformation. Pakistan takes certain actions to tackle the modern issue with modern means, including amending the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act, which was basically formed in 2016 to deal with cybercrime and related issues, along with certain institutional steps to prevent the fast spread of misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech. However, these changes in law face widespread backlashes from Journalists, stakeholders, the general public, and the media bodies. This leads to the question of what counter measures Pakistan takes in the digital age of 2025 to tackle the issue of misinformation?

In 2025, an amendment was added to Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), which was actually established in 2016, introducing Section 26A, which criminalizes the intentional sharing of false or fake information intended to cause panic, fear, unrest, or harm among the general public. The substantial amendments to the Prevention of Cybercrime Act 2016 (PECA) make it an effective law to combat cybercrime and address the challenges posed by the hasty advancement of digital technologies. Under Section 26A, a person who shares fake information on a social media platform may be charged up to 2 million Pakistani rupees and face up to 3 years of imprisonment.

The Amendment introduces new authorities, as the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority, established under PECA deals with the growing issue related to harmful and offensive content to make people safe. Social media protection and regulatory authorities have the power to remove posts and accounts spreading hateful or false information, and have the right to make rules for social media companies and punish these companies if they don’t follow the rules. This act can ban any type of material that contains obscene or pornographic videos, violence against the state, encourages terrorism, or harms any individual or institution’s reputation.  It is also spreading awareness of people’s safety and digital rights through promoting education, research, and good practices regarding online safety.

A new investigation body, the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency, is formed to deal with issues related to cybercrime, deal cybercrime complaints, inquiries, and trials. The National Cybercrime Investigation Agency replaces the cybercrime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and has the authority to direct forensic investigations of crimes.  The amendment in PECA gives the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency, the right that only NCCIA officers have the right to investigate crimes related to cyber security. NCCIA also has the right to cooperate and coordinate with other agencies in the intelligence gathering and policing process.

The establishment of the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority and the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency is to safeguard people’s rights in the digital age, forming laws, policies, and a code of conduct regarding the usage of social media platforms, where people mostly spend their time.  The act aims to update the laws related to cybercrime because, in the digital age, cybercrime and other criminal activities have the greatest impact on people. The Act helps to prevent the separation of false narratives, hate speeches that cause unrest in the country, and violence against the state that threatens state sovereignty or integrity.

Along with the amendment in PECA laws, the government of Pakistan also takes certain institutional steps to create a conducive online information environment. In order to tackle the contemporary issues like misinformation, Artificial Intelligence, and cybercrime efficiently, several ministries with other institutions, work thoroughly. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting formed a new department aimed at checking and balancing the content shared online by examining the spread the false narratives. This department serves as a watchdog to screen, verify, and counter the misinformation campaign spread online. One of the notable initiatives of this department is “Fake News Buster,” which works to identify fake news and remove it after official clarification, and also works to prevent misleading.

In contrast to the initiatives taken on the state level, Pakistan also works very meticulously with different International Organizations to resolve the contemporary issue, most importantly, the issue triggered by Artificial Intelligence, like deep fake videos. One of the notable developments is the approval of the proposal passed by Pakistan to the UNESCO Executive Board to tackle the issue of misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech. This can help Pakistan to resolve several issues through cooperation with other States and International Organizations, and encourage countries and tech institutes to update their programs to address issues like manipulated or AI-generated information.

Looking forward, the recent amendment to the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act helps address issues of misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech, as people are now becoming more cautious due to the penalties included in Amendment 26A. However, this amendment faces several challenges, especially from media outlets, stakeholders, and journalists, who believe that censorship restricts freedom of speech, expression, and opinion.  The government needs to build trust that it control the internet for only security purposes and uses it to counter the issues that cause a threat to the sovereignty of the state, not to use against any individual or any political party.