Pakistan's Cyber Crackdown: FIR Against PoK Leader Exposes Attack On Dissent

• Pakistan's National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) filed an FIR against Shaukat Nawaz Mir, chief of the Jammu & Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).
• The case, registered on March 25, 2026, pertains to a speech by Mir uploaded on Facebook, alleging 'false, misleading, derogatory, threatening and intimidating content'.
• Authorities invoked the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), criticized for enabling sweeping digital censorship and targeting dissent.
• Indian intelligence sources view the FIR as 'textbook example of cross-border narrative control,' weaponizing cybercrime provisions to silence inconvenient voices.
• Critics argue PECA is used to target journalists, activists, and regional political leaders, particularly those speaking about issues in Kashmir, shrinking space for political expression in PoK.