The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has arrested 13 people in Punjab for posting content critical of the state on social media platforms.
The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency confirmed the arrests were made across several cities of Punjab over the past two weeks, targeting suspected anti-state content.
NCCIA Punjab Director Muhammad Ali Waseem, who recently assumed office, issued the instructions that directly led to the launch of this province-wide crackdown operation.
Four suspects named Usman, Qamar, Abbas, and Tahir Mushtaq were taken into custody by NCCIA investigators operating in the city of Lahore during the crackdown.
Three others, Hamid Raza, Imran Afzal, and Waqar Ahmed were arrested from Gujranwala, while Ismail and Siddiq were held in Faisalabad by agency officials.
Four more suspects identified as Arshad, Umar, Junaid, and Azhar were apprehended by the NCCIA from Multan as part of the same ongoing province-wide crackdown.
The charges
All 13 individuals have been charged under various sections of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, commonly known as PECA, which was enacted in 2016.
Authorities said the suspects ran campaigns on multiple social media platforms against the Pakistani state, the army, and various senior government officials and functionaries nationwide.
Two of the arrested individuals also allegedly posted content that specifically targeted Gulf countries, according to a statement released by an NCCIA spokesperson to media.
The NCCIA spokesperson said digital evidence had been recovered from each suspect and that separate legal cases had been formally registered against all thirteen individuals.
Official position
The agency stated that the content shared by the suspects hurt public sentiment and negatively affected state order and overall governance across the country, officials said.
The NCCIA also warned that the misuse of social media, including sharing provocative or misleading content against state institutions, constitutes a punishable offence under Pakistani law.
An agency spokesperson confirmed all cases would be handled strictly on merit and pursued through the proper legal process in full accordance with existing Pakistani law.
On 30 April, the NCCIA arrested a man in Lahore separately for allegedly posting content described as anti-army and anti-state across various social media platforms online.
Earlier this year, a sessions court sentenced lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her spouse, Hadi Ali Chattha, to a combined total of seventeen years in prison.
That couple was convicted on charges of disseminating anti-state content on social media, one of several high-profile prosecutions under Pakistan’s electronic crimes legislation in recent months.
Amnesty International’s annual report noted that recent amendments to online speech and anti-terrorism laws in Pakistan had significantly impacted freedom of expression and peaceful public assembly.
The global rights body said those legal changes had resulted in the detention of journalists, activists, and members of the political opposition across Pakistan in recent times.
