Is Revenge Porn a Crime in Pakistan?
His name is saved in your phone as "bhai". He was your boyfriend for three years. After you break up, he sends your private photos to your father's WhatsApp. Your phone does not stop buzzing.
This is not your fault. And in Pakistan the law treats it as a serious crime.
The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016, or PECA, does not use the words "revenge porn". It covers the act under two headings: offences against modesty of a natural person, and offences against dignity of a natural person. The law applies when someone shares your intimate photos or videos without your consent. It also applies when someone only threatens to share them. The threat alone is a crime, even if nothing is ever sent.
Section 21 Is the Section That Matters Most
Section 21 of PECA covers image based abuse. It makes these things crimes:
- sharing a photo or video of you in a sexually explicit situation, without your consent
- intimidating you with a sexual act, or with your own intimate images
- putting your face on another person's explicit image or video, the deepfake trick
The punishment is jail for up to 5 years, or a fine of up to Rs 5 million, or both. If the victim is a minor, the jail term rises to 7 years with a fine. A person convicted a second time faces 10 years.
These are the current figures after the 2025 amendment. The full text of every section is in the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 as amended, published by the Sindh Judicial Academy.
Section 20 Catches the Rest
Section 20 covers false information that harms your reputation or privacy. A fake post about you, posted to humiliate you, falls here. The punishment is up to 3 years or a fine of up to Rs 1 million, or both.
Both sections carry a removal right. You can apply to the Social Media Protection and Regulatory Authority, the SMPRA, to have the content removed, destroyed, or blocked. The law says the Authority must act without delay.
What the 2025 Amendment Changed
Parliament amended PECA in January 2025. Three changes matter to a victim of image based abuse:
- the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency, the NCCIA, now investigates and prosecutes these offences
- the SMPRA handles takedown requests
- the penalties for sharing intimate images went up
A Real Case From Karachi
The courts are convicting. In January 2025 a judicial magistrate in Karachi sentenced a man to two years in prison for sharing his former girlfriend's explicit images with her fiance and her family. He was found guilty on three counts: offences against dignity, offences against modesty, and cyber stalking. The court fined him Rs 30,000 on each count. The sentences run together. Voicepk reported the verdict.
The conviction came from digital forensics. Investigators pulled the videos and pictures from the man's phone and proved they were sent from his numbers. The court said that in cybercrime cases, forensic analysis is reliable scientific evidence. The woman reported it to the cybercrime unit and kept the messages. That is why the case held together.
What to Do If It Happens to You
Act fast, and act in order.
- Save everything. Screenshots, links, dates, the sender's number. Do not delete a single message.
- Report to the NCCIA. File online at complaint.nccia.gov.pk or visit the nearest Cybercrime Reporting Centre. The agency's official website has the complaint form in English and Urdu.
- Ask the SMPRA to remove the content under section 21(3) of PECA.
- Report the content to the app. WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram ban intimate images shared without consent and remove them when reported.
- Do not pay the blackmailer. Payment does not end it. It usually brings more demands.
- Get a lawyer. If money is tight, free legal aid in Pakistan exists and it works.
What This Means for You
Sharing intimate images without consent is not a private dispute. It is a crime with years of jail behind it. The agency that investigates it takes complaints online and in person. The person who shared your photos can be arrested, tried, and convicted, as the Karachi case shows.
If someone is holding your photos over your head, report it. You do not have to negotiate alone.
If you need to know how the complaint channels work, our guide on where to complain about online fraud in Pakistan explains them step by step. For the criminal case route, read what an FIR is. If paying a lawyer is the worry, our free legal aid in Pakistan guide covers the options that cost nothing.
You can read more guides like this on the Lexiber blog, or start from the Lexiber home page.
Whatever the crime, the complaint now goes through the same route, filing an FIA cybercrime complaint in Pakistan, step by step.
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