In order to keep an eye on the growing cybercrime and to prevent it, the government has decided to form a separate regulatory authority on the style of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).
A bill related to the E-Safety Authority was sent by the Ministry of IT to the federal cabinet, which approved it.
The authority will also monitor the websites of TV channels and newspapers. The new regulatory authority will be called the E-Safety Authority, which is expected to monitor all the websites.
The authority will have the power to rant permission for websites and impose fines in case of violations. According to the bill, the authority will also have the power to grant licenses to web channels.
Following its approval, the web monitoring authority will be withdrawn from the PTA. The powers given to the FIA under the PECA were deemed insufficient, while the social media rules created under the same law also did not prove to be effective.
The PTA will not be empowered to block content on social media, according to the bill.It also mentions that no separate authority was created to deal with cybercrime as was given in PECA. The task was given to the FIA, which was already overburdened with other matters.
The federal government has also decided to register websites, web channels, and YouTube channels. The powers of the PTA, and FIA cybercrimes wing will be transferred to the new authority.
