The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology has directed the Federal Investigation Agency to take stern action against the individual(s) who harassed girls from the Kalaash community in a video that went viral over social media networks.
The Committee was presided over by its Chairperson Senator Rubina Khalid at the Parliament House.
Referring to the incident, the Chairperson of the Committee said that there is a need to give exemplary punishments to individuals involved in violating the norms of the society by harassing women. She strongly condemned the incident and called for taking the person to task.
The Committee, while discussing the actions taken against the individuals involved in cyber crime, observed that the recently reported incidents of pornography raised many eyebrows and pointed many lacunae in the existing laws and legal procedures.
Chairperson of the committee said that people involved in such heinous crimes have links with international mafia and the FIA should take stringent action to unearth their links. “Pornography in any form has social consequences for victims and their families and exemplary punishments need to be given to those involved in such a shameful act” Senator Rubina observed. The Committee sought details of the actions taken by the FIA in such incidents and decided to hold an in-camera session on the matter next month.
The Committee was earlier given a detailed briefing by the Cyber crime wing of FIA on the role, performance and achievements made so far in accordance with the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016 besides.
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It was informed that PECA, 2016 was promulgated by the parliament in August 2016 providing for a comprehensive legal framework to deal with cyber crimes and the FIA has been notified as investigation agency in cases involving cyber crimes.
Officials said that 18319 complaints were received under PECA from August 2016 to May, 2018 and appropriate action was taken in this regard. The committee directed the authorities concerned to expedite the process of completion of enquiries on the complaints received.
Senator Rubina Khalid said that we are not against right of expression but there is need to adopt some ethical and moral standards while uploading content on social media tools. She further said that code of conduct is necessary and there is need to exercise restraint if the content violates the social values and moral standards.
The Committee was attended by Senators Dr.Ghous Muhammad Khan Niazi, Dr. Ashok Kumar, Rukhsana Zuberi, Sana Jamali, Fida Muhammad and Mian Muhammad Atiq Sheikh. Minister for Information Technology, Secretary of the Ministry and other senior officers of the ministries concerned were also present.
