President Zardari signs controversial PECA Amendment Bill into law

President Asif Ali Zardari has approved the controversial PECA Amendment Bill 2025 despite protests by opposition and journalists.The development comes after the Senate approved the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) Amendment Bill 2025 and the Digital Nation Bill 2025 on Tuesday.The bills, which kept the government and the opposition at daggers drawn for several days, were moved by Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Federal Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain on behalf of the interior minister. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) , which is also an ally of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government in the center, also voted in favor of the bills. The PTI opposed the bills.The PTI senators lodged their protest by gathering in front of Deputy Chairman Syedal Khan Nasir’s dais. The opposition members raised slogans against the approval of the PECA bill and tore its copies.Journalists, on the other hand, staged a walkout from the Press Gallery to register their protest.On the occasion, Rana Tanveer said the PECA bill was not applicable to TV or print media but was meant to regulate digital and social media. He said PTI’s Shibli Faraz had almost accepted the bill.Shibli Faraz said law-making was their prerogative but no law should be passed in haste. He said had the law been in favor of people, there would not have been any opposition to it. It should have been discussed threadbare, he said. Journalists across Pakistan took to the streets against the controversial Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2025, demanding its immediate repeal.Demonstrations erupted in major cities, including Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi and Quetta, with journalists raising slogans against the government and rejecting the legislation.Leading the protests were Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) President Afzal Butt (Islamabad) and Secretary General Arshad Ansari (Lahore), joined by senior media figures, civil society representatives, and prominent journalists including Asma Shirazi and Mazhar Abbas.Dunya Media Group Managing Director Naveed Kashif also participated in Lahore’s protest.Addressing the crowd in Lahore, PFUJ Secretary General Arshad Ansari (who is also Lahore Press Club president) criticized PECA and said it’s a draconian attempt to suppress press freedom.