PAKISTAN MEDIA MONITOR – July 2024
A monthly report on trends relating to state of journalism and media rights, policies and practices
Tracking:
Media related laws, policies and regulations
The state of media professionalisms
The state of media economy
Threats and attacks against journalists and information practitioners
Vol. 5, No. 7 – July 2024 Edition
Produced by Freedom Network – www.fnpk.org
SECTION 1: Media related laws, policies, regulations, mechanisms
- Freedom of expression (FOE)
- Right to information (RTI), access to information (ATI)
- Federal and provincial governments (relevant ministries and departments)
- Media related regulators (PPC, PEMRA, PTA)
- Regulatory issues related to print, electronic and digital media
PIC directs State Bank to make public list of top 1,000 loan defaulters
Date: July 9, 2023 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: The News, Source 3: Daily Times
In response to an information request made by a citizen, the Pakistan Information Commission (PIC) issued a directive to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor to disclose a list of top 1,000 loan defaulters.
NA Secretariat warns employees to stay away from politics
Date: July 26, 2024 – Source: Dawn
Amid reports of official documents being leaked from the lower house of the parliament, the National Assembly (NA) Secretariat warned its employees to stay away from politics and sought details of mobile phones registered in their names.
Misinterpreting verdict falls under ‘Fisaad fil Arz’ category, says Supreme Court
Date: July 27, 2024 – Source: The News
The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) held that the Constitution gives citizens the right to freedom of expression, but it could not be used to harm the greatness of Islam or the integrity of the country.
SECTION 2: The state of media professionalisms
- Media independence issues
- Public interest journalism practices and challenges
- Ethical journalism issues
- The state of thematic journalism
- Community-focused media
- Misinformation / disinformation / fake news
Journalists under a climate siege
Date: July 2, 2024 – Source: The News
Covering climate change often means reporting from the front lines of extreme weather events like floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and heatwaves. These hazardous conditions put journalists at severe risk.
FIA directed to proceed against those maligning Justice Sattar
Date: July 3, 2024 – Source: Dawn
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to proceed against the persons identified for spreading personal data of Justice Babar Sattar on social media.
Insult, abuse not free speech, asserts Supreme Court
Date: July 3, 2024 – Source: Express Tribune
The Supreme Court (SC) held that the right to freedom of expression does not include the right to abuse or insult others. The apex court noted that Pakistan was among the first countries to have signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adding that its Article 19 also does not permit abusing others.
Islamabad High Court seeks X’s help in judge’s data leak case
Date: July 3, 2024 – Source: Express Tribune
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) through the foreign ministry issued a letter to the chief legal officer (CLO) of social media platform X seeking assistance in identifying the people behind leaking Justice Babar Sattar’s family data.
No proceedings started under Defamation Act, Lahore High Court told
Date: July 5, 2024 – Source: Dawn
The Advocate General of Punjab (AGP) Khalid Ishaq told the Lahore High Court (LHC) that no proceedings had so far been started under the Defamation Act 2024.
Islamabad High Court steps in to counter media drive against judge over degree
Date: July 9, 2024 – Source: Dawn
A full bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) issued notices to two journalists and a social media activist, taking notice of a campaign against Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri regarding the controversy surrounding his LLB degree.
Online hatemongering worries federal government
Date: July 14, 2024 – Source: Express Tribune
The federal government voiced serious concerns over the increasing online circulation of hateful content and the rising incidents of religious incitement. To help curb the spread, 180 religious scholars were banned from entering various districts while 90 were banned from speaking during Muharram.
KP Chief Minister serves Rs1 billion defamation notice on PPP leader
Date: July 21, 2024 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Express Tribune
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur served a legal notice on provincial Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, seeking damages of Rs1 billion and an unconditional apology for accusing him of approving the decision about the Operation Azm-i-Istehkaam.
Date: July 22, 2024 – Source: The News
Parallel cinema is primarily not for profit, though it may end up generating some. It is an umbrella term that may subsume various movements in world cinema in the past hundred years or so.
ISPR presser: Digital terrorists, extremists targeting military
Date: July 23, 2023 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Express Tribune, Source 3: Business Recorder (BR)
In a bid to clear the air around ‘Azm-i-Istehkaam’ – a military effort to reinvigorate counter-terrorism efforts – the military’s chief spokesperson alleged that a ‘mafia’ with vested interests was looking to sabotage the proposed campaign through ‘digital’ terrorism.
Ambreen Jan appointed new information secretary
Date: July 25, 2024 – Source 1: Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), Source 2: The News
The federal government appointed Ambreen Jan as the Federal Secretary for Information and Broadcasting with immediate effect. Before her elevation, she served as the executive director general for External Publicity (EP) wing.
Women in government flay ‘deepfake’ targeting Punjab minister
Date: July 27, 2024 – Source: Dawn
Condemning the circulation of a lewd deepfake video targeting the information minister of Punjab, women lawmakers and other government officials announced the initiation of a legal battle against those behind the act.
Geo Television reigns supreme on internet world
Date: July 27, 2024 – Source: The News
Geo Television’s drama serials have caused a stir in the entertainment world. The recently aired serial ‘Jaan Nisar’ achieved the fastest one billion views on digital platform YouTube.
JIT formed to crush ‘malicious’ online campaign
Date: July 28, 2024 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Express Tribune
The federal government established a five-member joint investigation team (JIT) – headed by the Islamabad police chief – to ‘identify and prosecute culprits’ who are using social media platforms to create chaos and disorder in the country through ‘malicious’ online campaigns.
SECTION 3: The state of media economy
- Economic landscape of media industry
- Impact of Covid-19 on media resilience and sustainability
- Government and private advertising for media industry
- Advertising sector and its interface with media industry
- Business viability and sustainability of media
- Wages, salaries and arrears of journalists and media practitioners
Radio Pakistan Larkana goes off air over default on power dues
Date: July 5, 2024 – Source: Dawn
Transmission of Radio Pakistan’s (RP) Larkana station remained off air for two days as electricity connection to the Pakistan Broadcasting House (PBH) was cut over non-payment of outstanding electricity dues.
Government gave Rs16 billion advertisements to media in five years, Senate told
Date: July 6, 2024 – Source: The News
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, while presenting details of advertisements to print and electronic media in the last five years, told the Senate that the federal government gave advertisements worth over Rs16 billion to the media.
SECTION 4: Threats and attacks against media and information practitioners, including online
- Murders and killings
- Kidnappings and abductions
- Arrests and detentions
- Threats – verbal and written
- Harassment and intimidation – offline and online
- Surveillance, hacking and data breaches
- Legal cases for journalism-related work or free speech
- Impunity of crimes against journalists
- Censorship
Bilawal Bhutto slams violence against journalists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Date: July 2, 2024 – Source 1: The News, Source 2: Express Tribune
Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed concern regarding the shrinking space for independent journalism and freedom of expression in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Steps taken to remove objectionable content, TikTok informs Peshawar High Court
Date: July 2, 2024 – Source: The News
Video-sharing application TikTok sent a letter to the Peshawar High Court (PHC) stating that the social media platform has a strict policy about blasphemous content.
RPO vows to ensure safety for journalists reporting crime
Date: July 2, 2024 – Source: The News
Regional Police Officer (RPO) Rawalpindi Babar Sarfraz pledged to work closely with journalists to create a safer environment to support them in their role of keeping the public informed while reporting crime stories.
Family of slain journalist ‘under constant threat’
Date: July 3, 2024 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Asian News International (ANI)
The terrified family members of slain journalist Khalil Jibran made a passionate appeal for their immediate relocation to a safer place after unidentified persons torched a portion of their commercial building situated adjacent to their house in Landi Kotal.
Government steps up efforts to regulate social media
Date: July 3, 2024 – Source: Express Tribune
The federal government stepped up its efforts to regulate social media through a bill that would empower the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) as the principal authority for the overarching approval of any sectoral plans prepared by the Pakistan Digital Authority (PDA).
IHC of the view that PEMRA curbs on court reporting unnecessary, send wrong message
Date: July 3, 2024 – Source: Express Tribune
Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief justice Aamer Farooq said that Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority’s (PEMRA) ban on reporting judicial observations sent a wrong message because those observations were also part of the court proceedings.
IHC reserves verdict on journalists’ petitions against PEMRA notification
Date: July 4, 2024 – Source 1: Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), Source 2: The News
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) reserved its judgement on petitions of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and Islamabad High Court Journalists Association (IHCJA), seeking nullification of a notification regarding imposition of a ban on court reporting.
Punjab government wants social media gagged for six days of Muharram
Date: July 5, 2024 – Source: Dawn
The Punjab government requested the federal interior ministry to shut down social media applications on the internet for six days in Muharram to control the dissemination of hate material and misinformation in a bid to avoid sectarian violence.
PFUJ reiterates resolve to fight for press freedom, human rights
Date: July 5, 2024 – Source: The News
The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) reiterated its commitment to fight for the press and media freedom and human rights in the country.
Prime Minister to decide fate of social media access during Muharram
Date: July 6, 2024 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Business Standard (BS)
The Ministry of Interior deferred a decision on Punjab government’s request for the suspension of six social media applications during Muharram, informing the press that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would make the final decision in this regard.
Date: July 6, 2024 – Source: Dawn
In most countries, Muharram passes off without incident. But because significant chunks of society in Pakistan have been radicalized, and confessional differences exploited, things are different in this country. Shutting down the internet and social media is not the way to ensure communal peace.
PTI takes offence to ‘digital terror’ neologism
Date: July 7, 2024 – Source: Express Tribune
The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) took exception to the military leadership’s reference to a ‘digital terrorism unleashed by conspirators’, noting that attempts to make freedom of speech a punishable crime and to label it as ‘digital terrorism’ are not in the interest of the country.
National security ‘under threat’ from X, claims interior ministry
Date: July 9, 2024 – Source: Dawn
In its reply placed before the Sindh High Court (SHC), the Ministry of Interior defended the months-long ban on social media platform X on the grounds that it is a ‘threat to peace and nationals security’ as it spreads ‘misinformation and incites violence’.
Kenya court rules police killing of Pakistani journalist unlawful
Date: July 9, 2023 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Voice of America (VOA), Source 3: Arab News
A Kenyan court ruled the murder of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘un-proportionate’ and ordered law enforcement agencies to pay 10 million Kenyan shillings to the family of slain reporter, who was shot dead by the police in 2022.
TikTok takes action against 20 million videos originating from Pakistan
Date: July 9, 2023 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Express Tribune, Source 3: Pakistan Today
Popular video-sharing application TikTok issued its Community Guidelines Enforcement Report for the first quarter of the ongoing year, revealing that the company took action against more than 20 million videos in Pakistan.
Security threats do not justify indefinite ban on X, argues Pakistan Press Foundation
Date: July 10, 2024 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)
The Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) rejected the federal government’s justification of national security threats as the reason for banning social media platform X. It also called on authorities to hold meaningful engagements with stakeholders before taking any decision to ban the platform.
Date: July 10, 2024 – Source: Dawn
The judgement of a court in Kenya has brought some clarity to the brutal murder of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif in October 2022. Yet many questions remained unanswered, and Pakistani authorities must do the needful to ensure that the slain anchorperson’s family can access justice.
Husband publically tortures television anchorperson
Date: July 11, 2024 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: Pakistan Today
Anchorperson Ayesha Jahanzeb’s husband was arrested on charges of torture following a case filed by the woman herself. Jahanzeb alleged that she had been subjected to violence by her husband at least thrice over the past year.
Journalist shot dead in Nowshera
Date: July 15, 2023 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: The News, Source 3: Business Recorder (BR)
An incident was reported from Nowshera where local journalist Hasan Zaib was shot dead by unidentified assailants. The attackers, riding motorcycles, fatally shot the journalist in a crowded market area.
Journalists protest bid to stop PTI leader from addressing meeting
Date: July 20, 2023 – Source 1: Dawn, Source 2: The News, Source 3: Pakistan Today
Journalists staged a protest demonstration against police authorities for stopping Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Omar Ayub to participate in a meeting organized by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ).
Courts urges to stop PTI social media activists’ abduction
Date: July 21, 2024 – Source: Dawn
The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) launched a social media campaign seeking attention of the superior courts towards abductions of its social media activists and their close relatives across the country.
Users face ‘disruption’ in WhatsApp services
Date: July 21, 2024 – Source: Dawn
WhatsApp users across Pakistan faced issues in sending and receiving media files through the messaging application while connected to mobile data.
Police, FIA raid central PTI secretariat in Islamabad
Date: July 23, 2024 – Source 1: The News, Source 2: Arab News
Officers of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the police conducted a raid on the headquarters of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in Islamabad, arresting several individuals and taking in custody computers and paperwork.
PTI media coordinator produced in ATC after IHC takes up his ‘abduction’ case
Date: July 24, 2023 – Source 1: The News, Source 2: Express Tribune, Source 3: The Nation
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) expressed its displeasure with police over rounding up people from the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Secretariat, after an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) granted police seven-day remand of PTI’s media coordinator Ahmad Waqas Janjua.
Parliamentary panel seeks answers on WhatsApp disruption
Date: July 24, 2024 – Source: Dawn
After several users around the country faced problems with WhatsApp communications, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications sought answers from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) over the disruption.
PTI leaders to be tried under PECA law
Date: July 24, 2024 – Source: The News
The federal government decided to charge arrested Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders and others under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act for spreading propaganda and hatred against state institutions.
Police claimed to have solved journalist’s murder case
Date: July 24, 2024 – Source: The News
The police claimed to have resolved the mystery of the murder case of journalist Hasan Zeb, who was gunned down in broad daylight in Nowshera.
Special courts to try ‘digital terrorists’
Date: July 24, 2024 – Source: Express Tribune
The federal government designated special courts in Islamabad under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016, to try ‘digital terrorists’ and those allegedly involved in spreading ‘anti-state propaganda’ through digital content in the virtual world.
Former PM decries ‘digital terrorism’ label from ‘social media novices’
Date: July 25, 2024 – Source: Dawn
Former prime minister Imran Khan regretted how certain individuals with no understanding of social media were dishing out ‘digital terrorism’ labels.
PML-N defends internet firewall, stresses regulation of social media
Date: July 27, 2024 – Source: The News
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) defended the federal government’s decision to introduce an internet firewall citing the non-implementation of laws and regulations regarding social media due to a lack of relevant technical resources, the capacity of authorities and state institutions.
Physical remand of PTI’s information secretary extended by two days
Date: July 29, 2024 – Source: Dawn
A court in the federal capital extended the physical remand of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Central Information Secretary Raoof Hasan for two more days and sent a female social media activist, allegedly linked to the party, on judicial remand.
Slain journalist’s family not allowed into Bhutto’s mausoleum to protest
Date: July 29, 2024 – Source: Dawn
A caravan from Ghotki travelled to the Bhutto’s mausoleum to register its symbolic protest over alleged slackness on the part of the police in arresting suspects nominated in the murder case of journalist Nasrullah Gaddani. However, they were stopped at one of the entry points of Larkana district.
Fate of journalist’s murder case hangs in the balance
Date: July 31, 2024 – Source: Dawn
The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) referred journalist Arshad Sharif’s murder case back to the three-member bench constituted under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 to re-fix it before a five-member bench.
OBJECTIVES: This series of monthly report aims to:
- Monitor the state of policies, regulations and mechanisms governing the media sector in Pakistan; the state of freedom of expression and right to information environment in the country and how these interfaces with media freedoms allowed or restricted via media regulations governed by the print, electronic and internet regulators.
- Track the state of media professionalisms in the country including ethical and public interest journalism practices and challenges, and the challenges of misinformation, disinformation and fake news phenomena.
- Follow the changing economic dynamics of the media industry and how they impact the business viability and sustainability of media and exploitation of media staff in lieu of their wages and arrears.
- Scrutinize threats and attacks against media and information practitioners, the state of impunity of crimes against journalists and efforts to provide justice for those aggrieved and distressed.
INFORMATION SOURCES: This report monitors, among others, the following sources of information:
- Government: Federal and provincial cabinets
- Ministries: Related ministries, including Information and Broadcasting, Information Technology (IT) and Telecom, Human Rights, Science and Technology, Commerce and Industry, etc.
- Legislatures: Senate, National Assembly, provincial assemblies, relevant standing committees
- Regulators: Pakistan telecommunications Authority (PTA), Pakistan Electronic Media regulatory Authority (PEMRA), Press Council of Pakistan (PPC), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), etc.
- Global organizations: UN/Unesco, International Media Support (IMS), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW), etc.
- National organizations: Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), BoloBhi, Media Matters for Democracy (MMFD), Institute for Research, Advocacy and Development (IRADA), Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), etc.
- Media: Dawn, The News, Express Tribune, The Nation, Pakistan Today, The Friday Times, etc.
- Social Media:Facebook, Twitter, etc.
- Local networks: Journalists Safety Hubs Network, Alliance on Diversity & Pluralism in Media, etc.
- Any other open public information sources.
