Marching towards a police state

Posted September 19, 2007 to Censorship , Pakistan category.

Some time ago, the government passed a draconian censorship law. However, at that time they had still not read Goebbels guide to propaganda, and mistakenly named it the Censorship bill. There was big hue and cry at the time, and the bill was revoked.

A wounded government, desperate for any and all means of control, finally got around to reading Goebbels, and have reintroduced an ever more draconian censorship law aimed towards turning Pakistan into a police state. What has changed is that it is now called the E-Crimes Bill, and the rubber stamp called parliament is about to pass it into law.

What does it mean? In short, anyone who uses the internet or a cellphone in Pakistan can be jailed at any time for anything at all.

This law lays the grounds for what the government has wanted all along - to make Pakistan a police state and to usurp basic civil liberties. This law affects everyone, from housewives to IT consultants. Anyone you uses the internet or a cell phone can be persecuted. That's 60 million Pakistanis on last count. #

In a supreme fit of irony tinged with shades of an Orwellian Animal Farm, the E-Crimes bill actually encourages crime, and in essence turns Pakistan into an international haven for cyber-terrorism. We haven't succeeded on the outsourcing front, so perhaps the government figures it can cash into the fast growing cyber-crime business. Of course, IT companies operating legally are quaking in their boots and planning an early exit from Pakistan in case the law gets passed as it it.

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