Get to know what the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Ordinance-turned-Act is all about.
Translation:
Voiceover: In this fast-paced life, SMS and emails were what you could rely on in order to get your message across to people in the shortest possible time. But it is a possibility that now, all your time could get consumed in just trying to select the perfect words to type in. Recently, the government has openly asserted that under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Ordinance, anyone who sends anti-government SMS messages to people can be sent to jail for up to 14 years.
Rehman Malik, Federal Interior Minister of Pakistan: Our senior leaders have been complaining that they are being sent indecent texts by unknown senders.
Voiceover: With the strict implementation of PECO, internet users will have to be extremely careful about their online activities. This is because now, common actions such as putting others pictures without their consent in forward mails, or on websites including Facebook, creating an email account under a fake name, and sending bulk emails to people without permission are also labeled as crimes and these can lead offenders to jail for five or more years. Also, under PECO, if somebody is caught transmitting viruses, worms and Trojan horses unintentionally, he or she would face jail for five years.
Vox-pops: This is wrong. Jokes on SMS are usually for fun. This shouldnt happen! 14 years are too much, and text messages are usually for fun.
Voiceover: According to estimates, in a span of 24 hours, more than 40 million text messages and 10 million emails get circulated in Pakistan. Authorities say that they possess the technology which can identify as to which of these SMS messages and which of these emails are anti-state.
Director, Federal Investigation Agency: We have the tools, the machinery and the gadgetry through which we can trace such content. Our results so far indicate that we have been successful in dealing with more than 95 per cent of the complaints registered to us.
Voiceover: Under PECO, FIA has the powers to arrest any suspected person and take into its custody any suspected property. However, according to legal experts, Prevention of Electronic Crimes Ordinance is not comparable to cyber crimes laws in force in the rest of the world and it has certain clauses which are even against basic human rights.
Barrister Zahid Jamil: The difference lies in the fact that in other countries, you can send unwanted emails and bulk mails, and the right to receive or not receive such messages lies with the recipient. If he does not want them, he can simply get himself removed from the list.
There is no distinct definition of Cyber Terrorism in PECO. Under it, any action which results in the ill health or death of a person, any action which can be deemed as an attack on the sovereignty of Pakistan, and gaining access to information by the help of which chemical, biological and nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction can be created all of these count as Cyber Terrorism. The most complicated part of PECO is that under it, the accused does not hold the right to appeal.
Piece-to-camera: The public, legal experts and human rights organizations all are of the opinion that the freedom of expression of millions of Pakistanis is directly linked to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Ordinance. And, to make it an effective legal document, the government, IT experts and lawmakers will have to sit down together in order to work upon it. With cameramen Zubairuddin and Tahir Daad, this is Haya Fatima Iqbal reporting for Geo News, Karachi.
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10 Cyber Crime in Pakistanby husnain884,307 views
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ALIRAZAKHANJATOI 3 months ago
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hamozoya1 1 year ago
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kingadnananjum 1 year ago