A TikToker has been booked under Section 26A of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016, for spreading fake news about “flooding in Jhelum villages due to a breach in embankment” of the Mangla Dam.
According to the FIR, the complainant on Monday came across a video by TikToker Malik Nabeel, a resident of Jhelum, in which he claimed that several villages in Jhelum had been destroyed due to a “breach in embankment at Mangla”.
The accused went on to claim that water had also entered Jhelum city and inflicted heavy damage, the complainant said.
“The video has caused fear and panic among the public,” the FIR read, adding that the suspect committed an offence under Section 26A of PECA 2016 by spreading false news through social media.
While an arrest has not yet taken place, it merits a mention that Section 26A of PECA pertains to the dissemination of fake news, causing panic or disorder.
“Whoever intentionally disseminates, publicly exhibits, or transmits any information through any information system that he knows or has reason to believe to be false or fake or likely to cause or create a sense of fear, panic, or disorder or unrest in the general public or society shall be punished with imprisonment, which may extend up to three years or with a fine, which may extend to two million rupees or with both,” reads the provision.