Newly revealed amendments to the country’s cybercrime laws on Wednesday suggest that violations could lead to a seven-year prison term and fines of up to Rs2 million.
The government planned extensive revisions to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (Peca). These changes would establish a new authority to block online content and prosecute those spreading ‘fake news.’ The amendments are currently under review.
The draft amendments include a new provision, Section 26(A), targeting the spread of “fake news” online. It proposes that anyone deliberately posting information they know to be false and likely to cause public fear or unrest could face up to five years in prison, a fine of up to one million rupees, or both.
The specifics of what constitutes “fake or false information” remain undefined.
Earlier drafts listed defamation against constitutional institutions and their officers, including the judiciary or armed forces, as unlawful. The revised draft extends this to defamation against any individual, including judiciary members, armed forces, parliament, or provincial assembly members.
Initially, the proposed Digital Rights Protection Authority was to request the government and social media companies to block or remove unlawful content. The revised draft now specifies that upon the authority’s request, the federal government can block social media platforms that violate these guidelines.
Read: Government Blocks 80,000 SIMs to Combat Fake News Spread
