of the country’s independence.34 According to media reports the FIA holds that “anti-state and hate propaganda” is the second-most misused subject on social media. The FIA also claims to have received “7,500 complaints from the public as well as state institutions of as many as 64,000 Twitter accounts and Facebook pages being involved in blasphemy and supporting anti-state, criminal and terrorist activities.” The same report states that three social media users were arrested in Lahore, Islamabad and Quetta for alleged involvement in anti-state activities.35 The sedition law has not been used in any of these cases; however, if sedition is largely seen as speech that is “anti-state”, then there are various instances in which such speech has been blocked and criminalised. Additionally, legislators including cabinet members have criticised the speech by bloggers at Bhensa, Mochi and Roshni as being anti-state. However, even in these cases, the state did not get involved in litigation and the bloggers allegedly involved in running these pages were abducted and later returned without any explanation from the government itself. This demonstrates that even in the cases where there was some public narration about possible anti-state activities online, the course selected to tackle such speech was extrajudicial. also being blocked. The investigation by Dawn.com found that “the list of 429,343 websites, obtained by Dawn.com from an ISP source close to the ongoing process, has been found to be flawed as scores of sites with no pornographic content are included in the list.”37 The same list was also used to block Tumblr from Pakistan. Within the law, the focus is on criminalisation of child pornography. Both the PPC and PECA include sections that criminalise and define penalties for those engaged in production, possession or distribution of content that depicts children/minors in sexually explicit conduct. The relevant sections of the law include: Section 292 B, Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 – Child pornography. (1) Whoever takes, permits to be taken, with or without the consent of the child or with or without the consent of his parents or guardian, any photograph, film, video, picture or representation, portrait, or computer generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, of obscene or sexually explicit conduct, where. — (a) the production of such visual depiction involves the use of a minor boy or girl engaging in obscene or sexually explicit conduct; (b) such visual depiction is a digital image, computer image, or computer generated image that is, or is indistinguishable from, that of a minor engaging in obscene or sexually explicit conduct; or (c) such visual depiction has been created, adapted, or modified to appear that an identifiable minor is engaging in obscene or sexually explicit conduct; is said to have committed an offence of child pornography. Pornography There is a general social consensus in Pakistan about blocking access to pornographic material. Pornographic content is generally seen as falling within the “decency and morality” related restrictions. The internet regulator, PTA, has been engaged in launching massive drives to block pornographic content, once landing in a controversy when allegedly a 15-year-old was engaged to make a list of pornographic websites to be blocked within the country. The teenager Ghazi Muhammad Abdullah found almost 780,000 adult pages in six months, calling this task his “religious and national”36 duty. After driving criticism PTA issued a tender for creation of a system for filtering content. As per media reports, over 500,000 websites with pornographic content are currently blocked in the country. A media report also indicated that in the guise of blocking pornographic content, other content was 34 https://govtrequests.facebook.com/country/Pakistan/2016-H2 35 Haq, R. (2017, 20 August). Cyber crime: 64,000 social media users reported to FIA. The Express Tribune. https://tribune.com.pk/ story/1486291/cybercrime-64000-social-media-users-reported-fia 36 Crilly, R. (2012, 14 March). Pakistan uses teenage boy to help with pornography crack down. The Telegraph. www.telegraph.co.uk/ news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/9143296/Pakistan-uses-teenageboy-to-help-with-pornography-crack-down.html (2)The preparation, possession or distribution of any data stored on a computer disk or any other modern gadget, shall also be an offence under this section. Section 22, PECA 2016 – Child pornography. (1) Whoever intentionally produces, offers or makes available, distributes or transmits through an information system or procures for himself or for another person or without lawful justification possesses material in an information system, that visually depicts— (a) a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct; (b) a person appearing to be a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct; or 37 Haque, J. (2016, 25 May). Pakistan’s impossible attempt to block 400,000 porn sites continues. Dawn.com. https://epaper.dawn. com/DetailImage.php?StoryImage=25_05_2016_001_007 PAKISTAN / 111