TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL GAZETTE
GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN
(INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATION DIVISION)
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATION
*****
Islamabad, the 6th October, 2020.
NOTIFICATION
S.R.O.1077(I)/2020. - In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of sections 37
of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, (XL of 2016), the Federal Government is
pleased to approve the following rules prescribed by the Pakistan Telecommunication
Authority: CHAPTER I – PRELIMINARY
1.
Short Title and Commencement. - (1) These rules may be called the Removal and
Blocking of Unlawful Online Content (Procedure, Oversight and Safeguards), Rules 2020”.
(2)
They shall come into force at once.
2.
Purpose and scope of these rules. - These rules provide for safeguards, process and
mechanism for exercise of powers by the Authority under the Act for removal of or blocking
access to unlawful Online Content through any information system.
3.
Definitions. - (1) In these Rules, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or
context: (i)
“Act” means the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (Act No. XL of
2016);
(ii)
“Community Guidelines” shall mean any community guidelines, community
standards, policies, rules and regulations, user agreements or any other
instruments devised by a Service Provider including a Social Media Company,
or owner of any Information System, website and webserver;
(iii)
“Complainant” means any person or his/her guardian, where such person is a
minor, aggrieved by unlawful Online Content and includes an entity or a person
authorized under these rules to lodge a complaint;
(iv)
“Contempt of Court” shall bear the same meaning as given under the Contempt
of Court Ordinance, 2003 (Ordinance v of 2003) and section 37 (1) of the Act;
(v)
"Database Server" means back-end system of an information system or service
or OTTA using server architecture, which performs tasks such as data analysis,
storage, data manipulation, archiving, and other non-user specific tasks;