'Official Secret Act to be enforced against people sharing classified documents'

Pakistan’s government has taken strict notice of the unauthorised dissemination of sensitive and classified information on social media platforms.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif in his post on X, formerly known as Twitter, said that the notice has been taken, particularly after the open display of classified documents, especially documents labelled as secret.

وفاقی حکومت نے حساس اور خفیہ معلومات کی غیر مجاز تشہیر، خاص طور پر، سوشل میڈیا پلیٹ فارمز پر خفیہ دستاویزات (خصوصا جن دستاویزات پہ سیکرٹ بھی لکھا ھو )کی کھلے عام نمائش کا سخت نوٹس لیا ہے۔ اس طرح کی معلومات کا پھیلاؤ پاکستان کے سٹریٹجک اور اقتصادی مفادات کو زک پہنچانے کے علاوہ…

— Khawaja M. Asif (@KhawajaMAsif) May 13, 2024

“The spread of such information can seriously damage Pakistan’s relations with its friends and brotherly countries in addition to harming Pakistan’s strategic and economic interests,” the minister wrote in his post.

Khawaja Asif added that the federal government, in this context, has decided to register cases under the Official Secrets Act against all those people who are directly or indirectly involved in the disclosure or dissemination of secret information or documents.

Read more: PM Shehbaz Sharif approves Peca law amendments to regulate social media

“The punishment for this crime is two years imprisonment and [a] fine,” he maintained.

On May 9, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved a draft for amending the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016 to regulate social media.

According to the details, the establishment of the Digital Rights Protection Agency (DRPA) has been approved under the PECA Act 2024.