Islamabad, May 5 (IANS) Press freedom in Pakistan is going through a tough phase as lawfare, enforced disappearances, online campaigns, harassment, and harsh financial tactics are being used against those trying to express opinions that are considered unfavourable to the power wielders, a recent report has stated.
Social media has become a powerful medium to express views, empowering ordinary citizens in Pakistan. With access to the internet and increasing literacy, people are taking on the role of independent press outlets by participating in public conversations. Attacks on individual speech have increased simultaneously, Usama Khilji, Director of advocacy forum for digital rights ‘Bolo Bhi’, wrote in the country’s leading daily Dawn.
“In the past few weeks, we have seen Pakistani authorities arrest a citizen for a satirical comment about the blockade of the capital for the US-Iran talks. This is tantamount to punishing one of the most potent cultural characteristics of the Pakistani internet user: humour. Journalists have borne the brunt of the state’s wrath as the government started to take its mediation efforts in the US-Iran crisis seriously,” wrote Khilji.
An online campaign against Matiullah Jan, who had invited foreign journalists to the National Press Club over a discussion on the situation of press freedom in Pakistan, resulted in him losing his job as a TV talk show host.
Journalist Fakhar-ur-Rehman, working for a Turkish news agency, was arrested and brought to court in handcuffs before court approved his bail. He was accused of sharing “false information” under Section 26-A of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca).
“But who determines what counts as ‘false information’, and whether jailing someone for sharing it is a proportionate punitive measure? Section 26-A of Peca clearly fails the proportionality test of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). It also fails the legality and necessity test by introducing a law without stakeholder input or public debate, that leaves ‘false information’ undefined and criminalises free speech. In short, Peca is being used as an instrument of lawfare,” Khilji asserted.
“In addition to the ‘false information’ section, the ‘glorification of an offence’ and ‘cyberterrorism’ sections of Peca have also been abused by the state, as seen in the 17-year sentence handed down to human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha for tweets about human rights, counterterrorism policy, and the Constitution,” he added.
The government of Pakistan has been introducing laws to protect journalists like the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Act of 2021. However, the commission established in November 2025 under the act has been unable to play its part of protecting journalists, as firing, arrests, and disappearances of journalists has continued since the formation of the commission, Khilji wrote in Dawn.
He mentioned that political opposition in Pakistan has been disqualified and jailed in cases while the media is being judicially and financially squeezed into compliance. Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces of Pakistan have been cut off from the media ecosystem.
–IANS
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