PECA AND JOURNALISM: A SAFEGUARD, NOT A THREAT
(Imran Ghaznavi)
The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) is a law with a purpose. It was designed to regulate digital content, combat cybercrimes, and ensure responsible online communication. However, for journalists, the law is often framed as a threat, a tool to silence and means to control the press. Is that true? Or is PECA something else entirely? For genuine, ethical journalists those who report facts, verify sources and act in the public interest, PECA is not an enemy. It is a shield, a framework designed to protect reputations, expose propaganda and hold digital manipulators accountable.
The real question is: Who actually fears PECA, and why? A journalist sits down at their desk. A stack of notes. A file of sources. A draft of a report that could shake the powerful. They check their facts. They confirm their sources. They publish. This is the process of legitimate journalism. It’s not what PECA is designed to stop. Instead, PECA zeroes in on digital crime, fraud, harassment, defamation, and the deliberate spread of falsehoods. It distinguishes between real journalism and calculated digital deception.
PECA actually targets fake news, manipulated content designed to provoke unrest or incite violence, character assassination and baseless defamation common tools in political and corporate warfare. It also counters cyber harassment and doxing, the exposure of private information for intimidation. For a journalist who follows ethical reporting standards, fact-checking, fairness, accountability PECA is not a concern. The law does not punish truth. It punishes the deliberate distortion of it.
For example, a video goes viral, claiming to show corruption at the highest level. Millions watch it, news outlets report on it and the damage is done. Then the truth emerges that it was fabricated, stitched together with artificial intelligence and deceptive editing. However, the lie has already traveled farther than the correction ever will. This is the new battlefield.
Today, digital platforms are not just sources of information, they are weapons. Fake accounts, bot networks, and coordinated disinformation campaigns spread narratives that are not misleading but also deliberately constructed to deceive. PECA stands as a defensive wall against this manipulation. It allows authorities to: Trace and dismantle fake news networks, hold individuals accountable for spreading falsehoods and prevent content that incites violence or communal hatred. Journalists who deal in truth benefit from this framework; it helps preserve the credibility of their work in an increasingly polluted information space.
Often Journalists themselves become targets and it is a journalist’s shield against digital smear campaigns. Like, when a critical report is published, within hours a flood of online attacks follows. Under PECA, journalists have a legal route to push back: If false accusations are made online, there is legal recourse, if their name and likeness are misused, action can be taken and if a coordinated harassment campaign is launched against them, authorities can investigate. The law is a tool. How it is used depends on those enforcing it. But, its existence gives journalists a means to defend their reputation in the digital age.
In fact, there is a fundamental difference between journalism and propaganda. Journalism is about facts. Propaganda is about influence. Journalism is accountable. Propaganda operates in the shadows. A journalist’s duty is to inform, investigate, and challenge. A propagandist’s goal is to manipulate, mislead, and obscure. PECA helps make this distinction clear: Legitimate journalism is based on evidence, verified sources, and ethical standards. Propaganda thrives on selective reporting, anonymous claims, and emotional manipulation. PECA does not criminalize reporting, it criminalizes deceit. In addition, in an era where half-truths and outright fabrications dominate online discourse, this distinction matters more than ever.
Rather than fearing PECA, journalists should ask: How can this law help protect our profession? It starts with responsible digital reporting, fact-checking before publishing, avoiding sensationalized or misleading headlines, verifying sources and cross-referencing information and holding online misinformation networks accountable. In an era of digital warfare, the integrity of journalism is under attack. PECA, when applied fairly, is a countermeasure, a legal framework that ensures truth prevails over digital manipulation.
PECA is painted as a threat. The truth? Only those who thrive on falsehoods have reason to fear it. For ethical journalists, PECA is not a roadblock, it is actually a safeguard. It does not silence investigative reporting, it protects from fabricated counterattacks. It does not punish truth, it punishes deliberate deception and does not target the press and it targets those who misuse digital platforms to spread lies.
