Artificial intelligence (AI) covers technologies such as machine learning, generative models, automated decision-making, and facial recognition. AI offers advances in healthcare, agriculture, and governance, but policymakers warn of ethical and privacy risks.

In July 2025, Pakistan’s Federal Cabinet approved a National AI Policy to “accelerate digital transformation” by building a national AI ecosystem. The policy sets ambitious targets: training one million AI professionals by 2030 and supporting 50,000 civic AI projects and 1,000 locally developed AI solutions over a five-year period. The plan creates new AI innovation and venture funds and establishes AI Centres of Excellence in major cities. A new AI Council, chaired by the IT Minister, will oversee this strategy. These reforms are intended to spur innovation, but if the legal framework is not robust, the threats to privacy, free expression, and fairness could outweigh the benefits.

The National AI Policy 2025 will operate in conjunction with Pakistan’s existing digital laws. Pakistan’s main cybercrime statute, the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, has been used to police online content. In early 2025, Parliament amended PECA to criminalise the spread of “false or fake information,” with penalties of up to three years in prison. Rights groups warn that this offence is vaguely defined and risks a chilling effect on speech. The amendments also establish a Social Media Protection Authority (under the telecom regulator) with broad power to block or remove content on vague grounds. Together with occasional bans on social media platforms, these changes have raised concerns about unchecked censorship in the digital sphere.

Constitutional protections and oversight remain limited. Article 14 guarantees the right to privacy, and Pakistani courts have ruled that unlawful surveillance (such as unauthorised phone-tapping) violates this right. Article 19 guarantees freedom of speech and of the press (subject to reasonable restrictions). However, Pakistan has not yet enacted a comprehensive data-protection law – a Personal Data Protection Bill (2023) remains pending. In practice, PECA’s data provisions serve some of the same functions, but without clear consent or purpose limitations. The Ministry of IT & Telecom leads on technology policy, while........

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