The Impact of Pakistan Electronic Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) on Human Rights and State Power (original) (raw)

The Impact of Pakistan Electronic Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) on Human Rights and State Power

Freedom, liberty, and authority hold central importance in the foundation of the post-colonial state of Pakistan. The persistent state of competition between these notions in the social and legal structures of the state came to define the framework under which Pakistan exercises its state authority, and understands the human rights and freedoms of the people. Being a signatory of various international conventions on civil and political freedoms, the Pakistani state is obligated to adhere to international standards of privacy, rights, and freedoms for the people in its legal framework. The constitutional rights enshrined in the 1973 constitution are reflective of this adherence. However, the understanding of the Pakistani state regarding the exercise of authority and liberty has been increasingly contested by people whose recognition of their constitutional freedoms is in ascendance. The transition of communication technologies from print to digital media amplified this competition between authority and liberty. The following research intends to study the implication of the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) (2016) and the associated draft law of Social Media Rules (2021) on this competition and the state of human rights in the country. The study will focus on the following set of research questions; what kind of Freedom is conceptualized in these sets of digital legal regimes? How does this conceptualization perceive the notion of state legitimacy and exercise of state power? How does this legal regime reconcile liberty and authority, and how this attempted reconciliation influence state-society relations? And what is the implication of his attempted reconciliation to the state of human rights in the country? The study will apply the theoretical framework by Isaiah Berlin by considering his theory of Two Concepts of Liberty and will adopt a qualitative research methodology of content analysis of the legal regime, and conceptions of liberty and authority in the state structures.