Pakistan toughens law on fake news on Twitter, Facebook

President Arif Alvi approved an ordinance to amend the country’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act that allows anyone to file a complaint against a social media post. — Photo by dole777 on Unsplash

Pakistan has toughened laws to curb so-called fake news by regulating posts on social media platforms like Twitter Inc and Meta Platforms Inc’s Facebook, a move seen as an attempt to crack down on journalists and opponents of the government.

President Arif Alvi approved an ordinance to amend the country’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act that allows anyone to file a complaint against a social media post. It also increased the jail term for the act from three to five years and made spreading fake news online a non-bailable offense, law minister Farogh Naseem said at a press conference Sunday.