Pakistan has adopted a new law that criminalizes online disinformation in a move that the authorities say is aimed at combating the spread of fake news on social media.
But critics say the law is designed to quash dissent in the South Asian country, where independent media have faced growing censorship in recent years.
Signed into law by the president on January 29, the law has triggered protests by journalists across the country of some 240 million people.
"This is a complete clampdown on free speech and the right to a fair trial," said Munizae Jahangir, a TV journalist based in the capital, Islamabad.
Under the new law, anyone found guilty of "intentionally disseminating" false or fake information faces a prison sentence of up to three years and fines of 2 million rupees ($7,100).
The law calls for the establishment of a new regulatory authority. which will have its own investigation agency and tribunals.
Jahangir said the law allows the authorities "to accuse somebody on very flimsy charges and put them behind bars" and give "unfettered powers" to the government regulatory authority tasked with investigating and adjudicating cases.
'Excessive Criminalization'
The new law is an amendment to the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act, which was passed in 2017 to combat online hate speech, harassment, and cybercrime.
Activists say hundreds of journalists and activists have been targeted under that law. Critics say the successive governments have used it to stamp out dissent, particularly criticism of Pakistan's all-powerful military.
Hundreds of members of the Pashtun and Baluch ethnic minorities have faced cybercrime and defamation cases for criticizing the military's brutal crackdown on Islamist and nationalist insurgencies in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Members of the Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI), the leading opposition party, have also faced a clampdown.
During the past two years, scores of PTI members and leaders have been targeted for protesting the jailing of their imprisoned leader, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, and the military's alleged meddling in politics.
"Everything they were doing in practice has been legalized through this [new] amendment," said Farieha Aziz, co-founder of the nongovernmental digital rights group Bolo Bhi.
She said the new law will strengthen state censorship. The new regulator created under the law requires social media companies to register with them and can issue fines and directives. The categories of content it can block has also been expanded.
"It's broad over-regulation and excessive criminalization on weak grounds," she said. "And that has a substantive effect on freedom of expression."
'Black Day'
During the past year, Islamabad has attempted to block virtual private networks (VPNs) after imposing a China-style Internet firewall in the country.
The firewall has been blamed for Internet outages and slowdowns that have disrupted businesses and triggered widespread complaints in the country.
Babu Ram Pant, deputy South Asia director of campaigns with global rights watchdog Amnesty International, said the new law is "in step with the deployment of intrusive digital surveillance technologies" but "fail to incorporate any human rights safeguards."
Journalists across the country observed a "black day" on January 28.
Beh Lih Yi, the Asia program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, a global press freedom watchdog, said the new law is "deeply concerning" because it "will disproportionately curtail freedom of speech in Pakistan."
Asad Iqbal Butt, head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said digital freedoms have already been over-regulated.
He said this was "to the detriment of people's right to information and connectivity, both of which are integral to a 21st century democracy."
