QUETTA: A union of journalists in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan on Wednesday set up a hunger strike camp to protest recent amendments to the country’s cybercrime law that opposition parties, the media fraternity and digital rights activists have widely said threaten online speech.

The Pakistan Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act, 2025, enacted on January 29, includes provisions making the dissemination of “fake or false” information a criminal offense punishable by up to three years in prison without clearly defining “fake or false” news. Stakeholders like journalists and digital rights experts say they were excluded from consultations on the bill, which prevented genuine public scrutiny of the new law. The government denies the law is aimed at suppressing digital speech.

The amendments to the Electronic Crimes Act create four new government bodies to regulate online content and broaden the definition of online harm. The government bodies are authorized to block and remove content based on “ambiguous” criteria that do not meet the standards of proportionality and necessity required under international human rights law, rights bodies like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty have said.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) last week challenged the new law before the Islamabad High Court, urging it to strike them down for being “unconstitutional.” Journalists and their unions have also held protests against the amendments in several cities across the country. 

On Wednesday, the Balochistan Union of Journalists (BUJ) launched a three-day hunger strike camp outside the Quetta Press Club, calling the new law “draconian.”

“Though the government says the amendments were proposed and approved to prevent fake news on social media, we are concerned that the government would target print and electronic media under the PECA Act also,” BUJ President Khalil Ahmed told Arab News.

He said the impoverished Balochistan province’s issues, including social and economic underdevelopment and security, did not get adequate coverage on mainstream media and many journalists from the region used online platforms to highlight the challenges. 

“Journalists in Balochistan province would be affected under this act because the majority of journalists here are forced to discuss provincial issues on social media platforms through vlogs and blogs,” Ahmed said, adding that the BUJ’s protest movement would continue until the government abolished the new amendments to the PECA Act.

Saleem Shahid, a senior journalist and former vice president of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, described the new law as being against “basic human rights.”

“Under these news amendments, authorities can detain journalists without giving them a chance of a legal trial in courts and fine them rupees two to three million rupees,” Shahid said. 

“When we speak about freedom of speech and independent journalism, we should be more responsible and pursue ethics of journalism.”

One of the regulatory bodies created under the new law, the Social Media Protection Tribunal, comprises government-appointed members rather than independent members of the judiciary.

Another new body, the Social Media Protection and Regulation Authority, is authorized to order any social media company to remove or block content deemed to be “against the ideology of Pakistan,” be known to be “fake or false,” or to cast aspersions on various public officials. The authority can also require any social media company to register with it and impose any conditions it deems “appropriate” upon registration.

Parliament adopted the amendments last month in the context of what is widely seen as an escalating crackdown on digital speech in Pakistan, including frequently shutting down the Internet and throttling Internet networks. 

The social media platform X has already been banned since days after February general elections last year as allegations of rigging emerged online. There are regular reports of VPN restrictions, and the government is also moving to implement a national firewall, though it denies these moves are aimed at censorship.