Fake News 

A Growing Threat 

Is fake news becoming a substantial threat? Absolutely! Fake news is a global problem. One among the most striking examples is the false info covering the influenza vaccine in Pakistan. So several citizens just mistakenly think that the national immunization is part of a Western ruse to cut back the Muslim inhabitants but that students who experience the immunizations may deteriorate from ivf.

This misconception has prevented the eradication of polio in Pakistan and Afghanistan. To this day, polio workers face attacks in some areas. But is any newspaper or TV channel responsible for spreading this misinformation? Not at all. The anti-polio campaign suffered a major blow after the 2011 Abbottabad operation, where it was revealed that a U.S. Intelligence apparatus must have initiated a falsify hbv B immunization strategy in Abbottabad's Bilal Town to obtain DNA extracts of Al-Qaeda head Osama jar Laden. 

As a conclusion, Dr. Regard to the specific Afridi, allegedly involved in just this spoof immunization strategy, has been punished to thirty years in detention center in 2012. Officially, the accusation was that he had ties to militant Mangal Bagh. When Afridi challenged this in higher courts, a murder case was filed against him in 2013, alleging that a patient had died due to his malpractice eight years earlier.

This string of events shows how false propaganda first appeared from a U. S. Undercover operation and eventually became a platform for Pakistan's governmental to explain Afridi's prison sentence. The repercussions of just this false info on the anti-polio initiative has so far been extremely damaging, and regretfully, infectious diseases remains a challenge in Pakistan late this afternoon. 

In 2021, the United Nations General Assembly incorporated Resolution 76 / 227 to confront propoganda, and in 2022, the UN Secretary-General disclosed that hoax poses a threat to social justice. But that said, the disclose further stressed that actions against psyops really shouldn't reduce freedom of press. Regrettably, Pakistan positions among states where democracy itself is branded as "fake." According to The Economist's Democracy Index, Pakistan used to be characterized as a "hybrid regime" until 2023. By 2024, even this brand has been lowered, and Pakistan used to be asserted an totalitarian government. When an assert, which organizations such as the world fail to recognise as democracy, contends to become a democracy, also that eligible as false information.

Recently, Pakistan's National Assembly cleared the PECA Amendment Act 2025, asserting to handle misinformation. Under this court decision, the national govt will demonstrate an ability to control twitter and facebook and restrict false propaganda. However, we all know this authority will operate similarly to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA). While PEMRA is officially an independent body, even its officials admit they take directives from certain quarters.

With this new law in place, intelligence agencies will find it easier to target critical journalists and politicians under the pretext of fighting fake news. Ironically, this court decision refutes Pakistan's 1973 Constitution, yet its creators, the Pakistan People's Party, ruled in support of it. Opposing side factions, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), objected the PECA Amendment Act 2025, let's not neglect that something like this act is a de minimis xerox copy of the 2022 munition invented by the PTI current regime. Return whereupon, the executive order seemed to be contested in the Islamabad High Court and successively declared illegal. Nevertheless, the faith of similar alleviation in 2025 might seem grim, as our faith in judgment may have only diminished over the three years. 

So, how must we address the real risk of pretend reports?

First and foremost, state institutions must stop spreading fake news themselves. In 2016, the PML-N government announced a war on fake news under the original PECA Act. But within months, intelligence agencies began using the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to exploit the law for their own purposes. The PTI government followed suit, and now the PML-N government is doing the same. Recently, two former PTI cabinet members disclosed that in 2022, the then-Law Minister Farogh Naseem presented the PECA Amendment Bill to the cabinet, which several ministers opposed. The bill was temporarily shelved, only to be later enforced via a presidential ordinance at the behest of General Bajwa and General Faiz. Today, while General Faiz is under arrest, his policies are being advanced by the PML-N government with renewed zeal. The primary intent of just this proposed policy should be to quiet scrutiny of some government statistics and public institutions on social networking sites. 

Article 25 of the Constitution assurances justice over all public, yet our senate might seem focused exclusively on guarding the powerful elite. If state-sponsored cyber commandos or certain politicians spread fake news about me, why don’t these laws protect me? My personal experience illustrates this point: during both Imran Khan's tenure and Shahbaz Sharif's current rule, my appeals to the FIA against fake news yielded no action.

It is no secret that Pakistan's parliament and judiciary are not independent, so how can the media be free? Numerous existing laws already control the media, and now new laws are being introduced that conflict with both the Constitution and international standards. The consequences of such measures will ultimately harm the state as a whole. For instance, questioning the February 8 elections in Pakistan may now be labeled as fake news. Criticizing the president, prime minister, chief ministers, or key state figures will also fall under the category of fake news.

Under the pretext of fighting hoax, detractors of the current regime will then be imprisoned. Appreciate through force and inhibition is just being did seek. This proposed legislation, enacted in the name of reducing misinformation, is a misery for a society where it is now bound to fail before even being effectively integrated.