FIA receives 18,319 complaints

RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has received 18,319 complaints under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016 from August 2016 to May 2018.

This was revealed to the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology, which met here with Senator Rubina Khalid in the chair on Friday.

The committee was given a detailed briefing by the Cyber Crime Wing of FIA on the role, performance and achievements made so far in accordance with the PECA 2016.

It was informed that the 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.

The officials said that 18,319 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 inquiries on the complaints received.

Senator Rubina Khalid said that they are not against the right of expression but there is a need to adopt some ethical and moral standards while uploading contents on social media.

She further said that code of conduct is necessary, adding that there is a need to exercise restraint if the content violates social values and moral standards.

The committee also directed the FIA to take stern action against the individuals for uploading the video while harassing the Kalash girls.

Referring to the incident, the chairperson of the committee said that there is a need to give exemplary punishment to individuals involved in violating the norms of society by harassing women. She strongly condemned the incident and called for taking the responsible person to task.

The committee while discussing the actions taken against the individuals involved in cyber crimes, observed that the recently reported incidents of pornography raised eyebrows and pointed numerous lacunas in the existing laws and legal procedures.

The 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 acts,” 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.