Greater than 80 civil society organisations registered their protest on Tuesday in opposition to the Punjab Defamation Invoice (2024) handed by the provincial meeting a day earlier.
The provincial meeting yesterday passed the Defamation Invoice, 2024, rejecting all amendments proposed by the opposition amid protests by the PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council and journalists protecting parliamentary proceedings.
The SIC members tore aside copies of the invoice after the Home handed it by a voice vote.
Vetted by the Particular Committee-1 within the absence of standing committees, the invoice was tabled by Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman after the PML-N authorities refused to delay voting on the invoice, even for per week, on the request of journalists.
On the event, the press gallery members walked out of the meeting to boycott the proceedings. They rejected the invoice as a “curb on free media”.
A press launch issued by civil society and journalists as we speak — a duplicate of which is on the market with Daybreak.com — mentioned they outrightly reject the Punjab Defamation Invoice, provided that it was a gross infringement on the elemental rights of freedom of expression and press freedom.
It mentioned that the invoice served as a “draconian and regressive” instrument to suppress dissent and criticism and notably focused journalists and the broader public.
“Its specific mandate of safeguarding ‘public officers’ in opposition to defamation is nothing wanting an authoritarian manoeuvre, designed to defend these in energy from accountability and scrutiny,” it mentioned.
It mentioned that the invoice’s provisions, which permit defamation actions to be initiated with out proof of precise injury and imposing extortionate fines, amounted to nothing lower than authorized intimidation ways.
Moreover, the invoice’s broad definition of “journalists” and “newspapers” to incorporate social media customers set a harmful precedent for stifling freedom of expression on-line, the assertion mentioned.
“The proposed punishments, together with the potential for blocking social media accounts, are disproportionate and antithetical to democratic ideas,” it mentioned.
The alliance urged the Punjab authorities to heed civil society and stakeholders’ voices and reverse the hassle to go one other regressive laws akin to Peca (Prevention of Digital Crimes Act).
It referred to as for the defamation invoice to be “scrapped solely”, demanding the governor of Punjab to not signal the invoice.
It mentioned that future makes an attempt to deal with disinformation and hate speech on on-line platforms ought to be initiated with inclusive consultations on the nationwide degree.