Gulzaib Tareen
We live in the age of the Internet but still, our Pakistani legislation is ignorant about the fact of e-governance in the contemporary world. We come across terms of privacy, digital media, cyber security, cyber warfare, and cyber terrorism but we don’t recognize or simply ignore it. Data sharing on social interaction applications or websites is too common but the care of that information is not observed. Government is the custodian of the privacy of its citizens according to article 14 of the constitution in terms of the dignity of man.
Our lives have transformed into the digital world in the form of live videos, live location, journey information, personal profile information, administrative apps of government and confidential data in our communication applications we use for personal and professional communication. We have recent examples of cyber-attacks on Careem riding app and some of banks database. In 2011 the Supreme Court website was claimed to be hacked by the Indian hackers. Cyber-attacks is an inevitable fact in the modern global village.
Cyber information is used by many states for the purpose of surveillance upon other states and counter-narrative groups. Previous days Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has started proceedings against some of the journalists, civil rights activists and groups who were criticizing state guest Crown Prince Shah Salman arrival to Pakistan. Use of cyberspace for the purpose of propaganda is at peak. Fake news even stood threat for United America in the form of previously held presidential elections. World powers like America, China and Russia are using global forums such as the United Nations to formulate international cyber law.
Pakistan has introduced cyber law in 2016 to counter cyber-crimes. It is the requirement of time to evolve cyber-law because it was subject to some of rational criticism as stated in one of Dawn News report. Cybersecurity needs to be taught in schools and colleges. Online harassment, blackmailing, propaganda, hacking and defamation need to be confronted as challenges of e-world.
The evolution of cyber-law is started from 2002 Electronic Transactions Ordinance under the authority of PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority) to the establishment of 2016 National Response Centre for Cyber Crimes under the authority of FIA. Expertise is need of the hour to be produced by federating units as well as the federal government to be updated with requirements of time in the form of internet security. Many states have developed their own search engines just like Google. Pakistan is also in dire need to be updated in this virtual infrastructure not to infringe the individual freedoms but to secure their dignity.
The Writer is a Student LLB (Hons) and Mass Communication, Punjab University, Lahore. He belongs to Quetta.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are those of the author and Balochistan Voices not necessarily agrees with them.
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