In response to growing concerns over the circulation of objectionable content on online platforms, the federal government has constituted a five-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to investigate organized anti-state malicious social media campaigns.
The JIT, established under Section 30 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016, will be led by the Islamabad police chief and include two senior Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials. The other members of the panel are the director of cybercrime (FIA), director of the counter-terrorism wing (FIA), deputy inspector general (Investigation), and a senior superintendent of police (Counter Terrorism Department).
A notification issued by the Ministry of Interior on July 26 states that the JIT will “investigate and determine the organized objectives of the accused and their accomplices who have created chaos and disorder in Pakistan through malicious social media campaigns.” The panel is also tasked with identifying and prosecuting the culprits in accordance with applicable laws. The JIT can include any other co-opted member if necessary.
This development follows the recent formation of special courts by the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government to conduct trials of cases under the Peca Act. According to the Law Ministry’s notification, additional district and sessions judges, civil judges East and West have been given the authority to conduct trials in these special courts.
The government has repeatedly expressed concerns about anti-state content being disseminated online and is reportedly conducting a trial run of an internet firewall to filter and block unwanted content. This firewall will also be used to identify the locations from where the propaganda material is being originated.
Sources previously informed Geo News that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Information Secretary Raoof Hasan and others might be tried under the Peca Act. Hasan, who was arrested by Islamabad Police on Monday, is currently in FIA custody after a court approved a three-day extension in his physical remand.
The PTI official, along with 11 other members of the party’s media cell, has been booked by the FIA for allegedly heading and working in a digital media cell involved in running anti-Pakistan propaganda. The charges against the 12 suspects, including two women, involve Peca’s sections 9 (glorification of an offence), 10 (cyber-terrorism), and 11 (hate speech).
The suspects named are Ahmad Waqas Janjua, Hasan, Afaq Ahmed Alvi, Hameedullah, Rashid Mahmood, Zeeshan Farooq, Syed Osama, Mohammad Rizwan Afzal, Mohammad Rafiq, Syed Hamza, Farhat Khalid, and Iqra. The FIR, filed by CTD Inspector Sajid Ikram, accuses these individuals of employing various tactics on social media to hurt the integrity of Pakistan and sabotage the law and order situation. It also mentions that media cell members took directions from Hasan to incite the public against the state and the army, creating a chaotic situation.
