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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government has registered over 1,214 cases under a cybercrime law this year, out of which 10 have been filed against journalists, the director-general of a national cybercrime agency said on Wednesday, amid fears by the opposition that the law would be used to punish critics.

Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) was originally enacted in 2016, but an amendment bill passed in January 2025 expanded its scope by broadening the definition of “fake news” and criminalizing defamation against government officials.

The law also established a new social media regulatory authority to oversee digital content and a cybercrime agency with the power to prosecute violations.

“So far, a total of 1,214 cases have been registered by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) this year, out of which 10 have been filed against journalists,” DG NCCIA Waqar-ud-Din Syed told the Senate Standing Committee on Information.

The NCCIA is an independent institution that has the authority to investigate and act against all cyber-related offenses across the country.

The committee was informed that out of a total 1,214 cases, 611 were registered by the NCCIA for financial fraud online, 320 for harassment through cyberspace, 174 for promoting religious hate speech, 55 for defamation and 19 for the possession of illegal SIMs. Seven of these cases were registered for child pornography.

Cases against journalists Sabir Shakir, former anchor Moeed Hassan Pirzada, and investigative journalist Ahmad Noorani, have been registered for allegedly spreading hate speech against state institutions. All three regularly criticize the incumbent government and Pakistan’s powerful military.

A case against journalist Farhan Gohar Malik has been registered on charges of spreading propaganda against state institutions and disseminating fake news on social media. Another journalist, Khalid Jameel, was booked under the PECA law for allegedly using hate speech against state institutions. However, he was later cleared of the charges by a local court.

Former army officer and YouTuber Aadil Raja, and former anchor Imran Riaz Khan were booked under PECA law for their alleged involvement in “anti-state activities.” Journalist Shahzad Rafique was booked for committing alleged defamation while reporter Muhammad Waheed was booked under the controversial law on allegations of using hate speech against state institutions.

Many of these journalists are accused by the government of being biased in favor of former prime minister Imran Khan. Most of these journalists and vloggers, who have fled the country, deny the accusations.

Syed Ali Zafar, who heads the senate standing committee, expressed fears the law could be misused against the government’s critics. Zafar is a prominent Pakistani lawyer and is a member of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposition party. The PTI accuses the government and military of harassing its supporters. Both strongly deny the charges.

“The opposition has no problem if the law is used against legitimate cybercrimes like hate speech, pornography or crimes against the state,” Zafar noted during the briefing.

He said the PECA law should not be used against anyone who criticizes the government during the ongoing floods crisis.

Meanwhile, Waheed told Arab News that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had misrepresented his posts on social media platform X, saying he was only quoting Baloch politician Akhtar Mengal’s statements.

“I was wrongly charged for an X post that was actually a quote of a Baloch leader,” he said.

Pakistani journalists have long complained of increasing state pressure on traditional and digital media in Pakistan, which is ranked 152nd out of 180 countries on the press freedom index of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a media watchdog that promotes and defends press freedom.

Pakistani authorities banned social media platform X in the recent past. Pakistani officials, meanwhile, have defended the PECA law, saying it protects people’s integrity and data on social media platforms.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's government has decided to lift its years-long ban on new gas connections for domestic use, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik said on Wednesday, saying authorities would issue Re-Gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) connections for domestic use.

Pakistan's government announced it was banning new gas connections in 2021, citing rapidly depleting gas reserves in the country. This forced users to switch from piped gas to other alternative sources of fuel for cooking and heating purposes, such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas, (LPG), which is more expensive.

Speaking to reporters at a news conference, Malik said the government was mindful of accidents such as explosions due to gas leaks and substandard cylinders, and of the difficulties people faced in having gas cylinders refilled.

"Due to all of these things and at the people's strong insistence, the prime minister and the government of Pakistan have decided that RLNG, which is imported gas, its new connections will be issued," Malik said.

The minister said that the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) will entertain people's applications for new gas connections after the cabinet issues a notification in this regard.

Malik said RLNG is more expensive than local gas but said it was still 30-35 percent cheaper than LPG.

"This means that inflation, regarding which the government of Shehbaz Sharif has controlled through untiring efforts, people will get some more support on it," the minister said.

Malik said the prime minister was mindful that RLNG is expensive compared to domestic gas, adding that the government would try to tackle Pakistan's energy crisis.

"For the discovery of local gas, we have completed one bid round," he said. "The second bid round will be completed soon. Companies from around the world, be it [from] our friend Turkiye, our friend China or our friend America, we will bring all these companies and try to utilize all the resources of on-shore and off-shore gas."

The development takes place after the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), one of the country's leading oil and gas exploration and production companies, said it has discovered "significant" oil and gas reserves in the Attock district of Punjab last week.

Earlier in February, Mari Energies, a Pakistani hydrocarbon exploration firm, discovered new oil and gas reserves in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, with initial tests suggesting a flow of 12.96 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of gas and around 20 barrel per day (bbl/d) of condensate.