It has become increasingly difficult for people to use their constitutional rights to free speech and access to information. It also feels like we have returned to the Zia-ul-Haq dictatorship era, as the country's room for civil and political discourse has rapidly limited.

1. THE DILEMMA OF FREE
SPEECH IN PAKISTAN
W a s i t l e g a l f o r P e m r a t o s i l e n c e a m e d i a
o u t l e t s e e n b y m i l l i o n s o f p e o p l e ?

2. PAKISTAN’S RANKING ON
THE WORLD PRESS
FREEDOM INDEX
Pakistan's ranking in the index declined 12 points from 145 in
2021 to 157 in 2022, per the World Press Freedom Index 2022
report.
Pakistani Siasat

3. IS PAKISTAN IN THE
ERA OF TERROR?
It has become increasingly difficult for people to use their
constitutional rights to free speech and access to information.
It also feels like we have returned to the Zia-ul-Haq
dictatorship era, as the country's room for civil and political
discourse has rapidly limited.
Pakistani Siasat

4. ARY NEWS CAME
UNDER FIRE
ARY News came under fire on August 8 from the Pakistan
Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA). The Pakistan
Media watchdog issued a show cause notice to the channel
stating that the station's employees were biassed and
referenced a news item that had been broadcast on the news
channel as "Strategic media unit of the government tasked with
defaming PTI Chairman Imran Khan via anti-military narrative".

5. The notice does not mention which of
the Article 19 prohibitions, if any, were
broken by the claimed defamation of
the federal government. It also doesn't
say exactly which "Pemra laws" were
broken.
THE LOOPHOLES IN THE
NOTICE ISSUED BY
PEMRA
The notice threatens legal action
under Section 30, which gives the
authority to suspend or revoke a
channel's license.
It is interesting to note that
subsection (3) of that same law
specifically stipulates that a licence
cannot be suspended or revoked
without reasonable notice and a
personal hearing unless it is in the
public interest.

6. THANK YOU
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