Pakistan names Ayyaz to lead SMPRA
Pakistan has appointed Ayyaz Shaukat to head its new social media regulator, giving the body legal powers to order removals, block content, and act on complaints within 24 hours.
Pakistan has appointed senior lawyer Ayyaz Shaukat as the first chairman of the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority, or SMPRA, in a move that brings the country’s controversial 2025 cyber law amendments into active enforcement.
Local media reports said the Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control issued the appointment notification on March 18, while Shaukat, who is serving as Advocate General Islamabad, is expected to assume charge after the Eid holidays.
SMPRA was created under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act, 2025, which was published in the Gazette of Pakistan on January 29, 2025.
The law says the federal government must establish the authority through an official gazette notification, and it gives the body a chairperson and eight other members, including the interior secretary, PEMRA chairman, and PTA chairman or a PTA nominee as ex-officio members. The same law says the chairperson and non-ex-officio members will serve a non-extendable five-year term.
The law gives SMPRA broad authority over online platforms accessible from Pakistan. It can regulate what the law calls unlawful or offensive content, require social media platforms to enlist, and partially or fully block a platform for non-compliance. It also gives the chairperson exclusive authority to take immediate action, including ordering the blocking of unlawful online content, subject to ratification by the authority within 48 hours.
One of the most closely watched provisions is Section 2C. It allows any person aggrieved by fake and false information to seek removal or blocking, and it requires the authority to pass an order within 24 hours of receiving a complaint.
Separately, Section 26A introduced punishment of up to three years in prison, a fine of up to Rs2m, or both, for intentionally spreading false or fake information likely to create fear, panic, disorder, or unrest in society.
The creation of SMPRA marks a major institutional shift in Pakistan’s digital regulation system. Until the authority and the new cybercrime investigation agency were set up, the amended law said the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority would continue performing the relevant functions on a transitional basis.
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The 2025 amendments also created a Social Media Complaint Council and a tribunal structure for appeals against the authority’s decisions, with further appeal lying to the Supreme Court within 60 days.
The appointment comes as Pakistan’s online audience keeps expanding. DataReportal said Pakistan had 117 million internet users at the end of 2025, equal to 45.6% of the population, and 79.9 million social media user identities, equal to 31.2% of the population.
The same report said social media user identities rose by 16 million, or 25%, between late 2024 and the end of 2025, highlighting why regulatory control of online platforms has become a bigger policy issue.
Pakistan’s wider telecom sector has also grown sharply. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said the country surpassed 200 million telecom subscribers and 150 million broadband connections in 2025, while broadband penetration crossed 60%.
PTA said sector revenues exceeded Rs1 trillion and fiscal contributions rose to Rs402bn, showing the increasing economic weight of digital networks that SMPRA will now help police.
The PECA amendments have drawn sustained criticism from rights groups, legal researchers, and press freedom advocates. Reporters Without Borders said in October 2025 that at least nine journalists had been targeted under PECA since the January amendments, and warned that the law was being used to repress critical voices.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and legal analysts at RSIL and SAHSOL have also argued that the amendments grant sweeping content control powers and use vague standards that could chill lawful speech.
Supporters of the amendments have defended them as a response to disinformation, online abuse, and digital harms. But the operational test will begin now that SMPRA has a chairperson and can start exercising powers written into the law more than a year ago.
With internet use still rising, telecom revenues expanding, and Pakistan pushing broader digital reforms, SMPRA is likely to become a central institution in the country’s debate over platform regulation, free expression, and online safety.