The Lahore High Court on Friday issued notices on a petition challenging the Pre­vention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Bill 2025 which was recently rectified into law.

The new provisions introduce harsher penalties for what the government considers “fake news”, the expansion of state oversight of digital platforms, and the creation of new regulatory bodies to monitor social media.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday gave his assent to the Peca amendments despite widespread backlash from political parties, journalist bodies, and human rights organisations.

The petition against the bill, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, was filed a day earlier before the LHC by journalist Jaffar bin Yar through Advocate Nadeem Sarwar. It said that the bill was hastily passed without considering the opinions of relevant stakeholders.

Hearing the petition today, Justice Farooq Haider rejected the petitioners’ request to immediately suspend the implementation of various provisions of the Peca amendment.

He said that a decision on the plea will be made once the parties have presented their stance.

Justice Haider also asked all the parties to respond within three weeks and issued notices to them.

Critics view the legislation as a tool for suppressing dissent and silencing critical voices, while the government insists it is necessary to combat disinformation.

Amnesty International warned on Saturday that the recently proposed changes to the country’s cybercrime laws could “further tighten the government’s grip over Pakistan’s heavily controlled digital landscape” if enacted into law.

“The vague and ambiguous framing of some elements of the offence together with a history of the Peca being used to silence dissent raises concerns that this new offence will chill what little is left of the right to online expression in the country,” the statement said.

Journalists have assailed the legislation as an “attack on freedom of expression”, while the PTI has accused the PPP, an ally of the ruling coalition, of hypocrisy, slamming its support for the bill.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) announced on Thursday that it would observe a “Black Day” with a series of nationwide demonstrations in protest of the legislation.