The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing in Islamabad registered cases against three individuals, including journalist Ahmad Noorani, lawyer Shafiq Ahmed Iddo, and social media activist Aina Darkhani, for allegedly spreading fake news about the Jaffar Express attack. The cases were registered under sections of the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA).

An FIR dated March 13 was registered against Noorani and stated that his X profile was found sharing “highly intimidating content/tweers on social media/Twitter.” It stated that the profile had “knowingly” disseminated “fake, false, misleading and misinterpreted information,” which was likely to cause fear and panic among the public.

Sharing Noorani’s post, the FIR stated: “Such intimidating content shared through verified social media account of the accused to glorify the banned outfit/proscribed organization, i.e., Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and their terrorist activities, is clearly fanning insurgency in the state and a mischievous act of subversion to damage the State of Pakistan.”

The FIR was registered on the complaint of Anees Ur Rehman, technical assistant at FIA Cyber Crime Reporting Centre Islamabad, under Sections 9, 10, and 26-A of PECA 2016.

Digital rights activist Usama Khilji condemned the registration of FIRs, labeling them a “prime example of the abuse that journalists and activists had warned about when the government pushed through amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) in parliament.” Khilji remarked: “Reporting on incidents is now being penalized under the law. Journalists are being unfairly accused of spreading fake news simply for covering different aspects of nationally important events. This is an extremely draconian and anti-democratic move.”