Islamabad AG Ayaz Shaukat appointed chairman of newly established Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Thursday named lawyer and current Advocate General Islamabad Ayaz Shaukat as the inaugural chairman of the recently formed Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority (SMPRA).

Aware of the development, Shaukat is expected to step down from his position as advocate general shortly after the Eidul Fitr holidays in order to take up his new role at the helm of the authority.

SMPRA established under amended PECA 2025

The authority has been set up under the amended Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Act, 2025. The SMPRA will consist of a total of eight members, including the chairman. The federal government has also notified five members of the authority, namely Sohail Iqbal, Adnan Khan, Muhammad Salman Zafar, Fahad Malik, and Muhammad Saad Ali.

As per the provisions of the amendment, the two remaining members of the authority are required to be a journalist and a software engineer. The chairman and all members of the SMPRA will serve for a term of five years.

Structure and mandate of the authority

The SMPRA will operate as a corporate body, possessing the legal capacity to sue and be sued in its own name. Its principal office will be located in Islamabad.

The establishment of the authority marks a significant step in the government's efforts to regulate social media platforms in the country under the framework of the amended electronic crimes legislation. The appointment of Shaukat, a practising lawyer currently serving as the Advocate General for the federal capital, signals the government's intent to have the body led by a legal professional.

The notification of five out of the seven non-chairman members indicates that the government is moving swiftly to operationalise the body, though the positions reserved for a journalist and a software engineer have yet to be filled.