Pakistani lawmakers are preparing to approve the E crimes bill from the cabinet and then from the parliament. My question is that what would be the review process, because cyber world is ever changing and is quite different from the real world. Is this bill flexible enough to accommodate the fluid nature of cyber world?
State Minister of Information Technology & Telecom Anusha Rahman has been quite active in formulating the cyber crime legislation for the country since she has joined the portfolio. In fact I don’t see any other measures taken by her on her credit. She is still unable to open the youtube and few other websites in the country.
Some corners accuse her that she is more interested in implementing the Draconian laws rather than making IT more feasible and prevalent in the country. Anusha has said that a comprehensive Cyber Crime Bill has been finalized that would be tabled before the cabinet for approval within next week. She stated many features of this bill while reviewing the final draft of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2014.
I have a feeling that this bill is geared towards censorship rather than the real purpose of the cyber laws around the world. Governments all over the world use cyber laws for electronic transactions, protection of personal data, promotion of cyber-security, e-governance and combating cybercrime. This is yet to be seen.
Ministry of Law, PTA, FIA, ISPAK, PASHA and many lawyers have given their input for this bill. If this bill addresses cyber related crimes by international standards, then this is more than welcome, as there is huge requirement for this, but if this is for the censorship, then voices should be raised against it.