• Drive mainly focuses on prevention instead of redressal mechanism
• Offers no fresh solutions to citizens as NCCIA remains in dire straits
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) annual ‘Cybersecurity Awareness Week’ concluded on Wednesday — mainly aimed at informing citizens how to adopt a preventive reporting approach, possibly because the redressal mechanism for victims of cybercrime is virtually non-existent.
The PTA’s flagship awareness campaign is organised every December in collaboration with stakeholders. The ‘Cybersecurity Awareness Week 2025’ was observed from Dec 11 to 17 under the theme “Building a Safe, Secure, and Resilient Cyberspace”. However, it appears the government is trying to focus more on keeping politically motivated content under control.
A message on the PTA’s Facebook page read: “See harmful, fake, or abusive content online? Report it first on the relevant social media platform. If the issue remains unresolved, submit a complaint through the PTA CMS Portal under the Web Content Complaint category.”
It ended with the line: “Together, we can make the digital space safer.”
No fresh solutions
However, the campaign offered no fresh solutions to the victims of cybercrimes.
Over the seven-day campaign, the PTA disseminated awareness messages covering a diverse range of topics, including the safe use of AI, deepfakes, phishing scams, misinformation and disinformation, reporting content to social media platforms, fake news, and digital footprints.
Recorded awareness messages, played as ringtones, advised the citizens to be aware of cybercrimes and not to share personal information with callers or click on suspicious links.
They concluded by the PTA asking Pakistanis to “become responsible digital citizens”.
The PTA also involved telecom operators in the campaign. PTA Director General Cyber Vigilance retired Brigadier Dr Mukarram Ali Khan held a session at the head office of Jazz Pakistan, where he emphasised the need for proactive awareness, strong institutional frameworks and stakeholder coordination to counter rising cyber risks, such as deepfakes and AI-generated personas, particularly in a rapidly digitising society.
He also lauded the telecom sector, describing it as one of the most secure in the country.
NCCIA woes
On the other hand, around 200,000 complaints have been filed with the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) this year by aggrieved citizens.
Despite the identification of 22 cybercrime and cybersecurity violations under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act 2025, the complaint redress mechanism remains slow and unreliable.
Majority of the citizens suffer from hacking, financial fraud and online harassment, while celebrities, media personnel, and politicians face online trolling in an organised manner.
The key focus of authorities is largely to solve the politically motivated cases.
Incidentally, Syed Aminul Haque, chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on IT, has also raised questions over the efficiency of the NCCIA.
“We all note that the public has been greatly distressed by issues like honey-trapping, malicious content and hacking on social media,” Mr Haque told Dawn.
A senior NCCIA official, responding to a query, said citizens needed more than awareness.
“They need protection … just like police protection from physical crimes,” the official added.
The NCCIA currently is in a state of despair with 500 out of its 534 employees on an annual contract, which has not even been renewed since July 2025.
Due to this reason, their salaries are not being paid.
The current structure of the NCCIA also does not suit the ordinary citizens. Its Peshawar office covers 18 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while victims from Jhang must travel to Faisalabad to lodge complaints.
One of the cybercrime victims, a resident of Jhang city, said they preferred not to file complaints against hacking and financial frauds as the follow-up process was very lengthy and exhausting.
Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2025
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