New bill proposes fines of up to Rs1 billion for sharing obscene content online

The National Assembly is expected to take up the Prohibition of Obscenity and Vulgarity on Digital Media Bill, 2025 in its upcoming session.

The bill, moved by PPP lawmaker Dr Syeda Shahida Rehmani, proposes strict penalties over obscene and immoral content online, with fines ranging from Rs100,000 to as high as Rs1 billion.

The draft “digital media” bill covers both online and offline platforms, including social media, applications, streaming sites, and other digital services.

It seeks to regulate content in various forms, such as images, videos, audio, films, dramas, songs, live broadcasts, advertisements, web series, and even animated sketches.

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Under the bill, prohibited material includes sexual conversations, extramarital relations, nudity or semi-nude clothing, drug use, content deemed offensive to public morality, ridicule of hijab, purdah, or the family system, as well as material seen as mocking religious figures or Pakistan’s ideology and cultural values.

To enforce the law, the bill proposes the creation of an authority, a supervisory board, and a tribunal.

Investigations will be carried out by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), while prosecutions will be pursued under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016.

The proposed board will include eight members: two religious scholars, one woman and one man, two psychologists, a female civil society representative, a media legal expert, a media professional responsible for removing content, and a federal government official who will serve as chairperson.