Regulatory Authority | Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Thursday appointed lawyer and incumbent Islamabad Advocate General Ayaz Shaukat as the first chairman of the newly established Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority (SMPRA). Sources privy to the development revealed that Shaukat is expected to tender his resignation from the office of advocate general soon after Eidul Fitr vacations to assume his new responsibilities. The authority was established under the amended Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act, 2025, and will comprise a total of eight members. The federal government also notified 5 members, namely Sohail Iqbal, Adnan Khan, Muhammad Salman Zafar, Fahad Malik, and Muhammad Saad Ali. According to the amendment, the remaining two members are to be a journalist and a software engineer. The chairman and the members will be appointed for a period of five years. SMPRA will function as a corporate body with the power to sue and be sued in its own name. Its principal office will be based in Islamabad, w...