The Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act ordinance 2022, which his government pushed through without any debate, is one of the many moves and orders issued during the past three years of his regime to silence critics.

Now that the 'better half``of the regime, that is the army, is looking for an alternative `puppet king`, Imran Khan is all the more wary of any criticism.

Since taking over as the Prime Minister, with the help of the Generals, in the 2018 elections, Imran Khan has been extremely wary of critical media.

He has done everything possible within his means to harass, humiliate and silence journalists, newspaper owners, bloggers and other social media activists.

Khan locked up the owner of a rich and influential media house, blocked the distribution network of another major newspaper chain and lambasted writers and journalists who dared to question his actions or inactions.

There are reasons why journalists and human rights activists eye the amendment with fear.

For instance, the ordinance gives the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) powers to arrest anyone and put them in jail till the conclusion of the trial. Now the federal officers also have the authority to unlock any electronic device.

Online defamation, including `fake news`, has been made a non-bailable, cognizable offence.

It is now a crime to run a website or send information with a “counterfeit source”; included in this provision are parody or satire-based websites and social media accounts. The guilty cannot get a bail for six months and can be locked up for five years.

Another provision open to gross abuse is the provision that the complainant doesn’t necessarily be the aggrieved person or institution; it can be any member of the public, making the new law open for abuse.

There are other draconian measures which have ruled the free speech advocates.

For example, the definition of a person has been expanded to include any company, association or body of persons whether incorporated or not, institution, organisation, authority or any other body established by the government under any law or otherwise.

The law also stipulates that courts will have to complete trials in six months and submit monthly progress reports of any pending trial to the high court concerned stating reasons for the inability to conclude the matter.

The new law, along with another recent law, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2020, that seeks to jail anyone who “ridicules or brings into disrepute or defames the military”, has made life difficult for journalists, human rights activists and social media champions.

These laws, and the animosity of the Imran Khan regime against free speech, are bound to make Pakistan into one of the most dangerous countries in the world for writers, journalists and human rights activists.