Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFU), lawyers and civil society members have decided to launch a nationwide movement for getting trashed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules, DAWN reported.

Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club on Thursday, the journalists’ union, lawyers, and civil society termed the government’s notified rules unacceptable, and demanded that the government revoked them.

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Members of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) and Media Matters for Democracy attended the presser.

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Many prominent journalists were of the view that these rules exceeded the mandate given by the 2016 Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act. In addition, they all said the regulation was a clampdown on online content as the final extreme in the series of restrictions on freedom of expression as well as press freedom in the country.

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They, however, appreciated Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s statement regarding having consultation with all stakeholders before enforcing the rules.