Digital dilemmas: Free speech, privacy, and state control in Pakistan's social media landscape

Abstract

The social media regulations in Pakistan reach out to the issues of society, law, and morality. Due to the blistering development of digital technologies, nowadays, people are more concerned about hate speech, fake news, and privacy. Thus, the government is updating the rules. Nevertheless, other individuals believe that such measures interfere with the freedom of speech and might be prohibited by the Constitution. It is feared that such legislation as PECA can be exploited to prevent criticism using its ambiguous provisions. It is hard to ensure that fundamental rights of people are guaranteed and they are responsible. The other one is the fact that the nature of requests or deletions to data may not be understood, as well as how the content is being deleted. It means that social media networks are social subjects that are dynamic in the world and, therefore, give additional difficulties in controlling them. These are issues that need an intelligent approach to tackle in the digital space in Pakistan, whereby all stakeholders, good laws, and democracy are involved.