The document summarizes press laws in Pakistan. It outlines that the first media laws were introduced in 1962 by President Ayub Khan through the Press and Publication Ordinance, which empowered authorities to censor newspapers and arrest journalists. More repressive amendments were made under General Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s to promote censorship. Under General Pervez Musharraf from 2002, media laws were liberalized allowing private broadcasters and breaking the state's media monopoly, though the military still aimed to control media. Pakistan's media laws also cover defamation, contempt of court, copyright and various other press ordinances.

1. PRESS LAWS IN PAKISTAN

2. Press laws
• Press laws are the laws concerning the licensing of books and the
liberty of expression in all products of the printing-press, especially
newspapers.
• Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of
communication and expression through mediums including various
electronic media and published materials. While such freedom
mostly implies the absence of interference from an overreaching
state, its preservation may be sought through constitutional or other
legal protections.
• The United Nations' 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and
expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference, and impart information and ideas through any media
regardless of frontiers"

3. Press and Publication Ordinance (PPO)
• The first step in introducing media laws in the country was done by
the then military ruler and President Ayub Khan who promulgated
the Press and Publication Ordinance (PPO) in1962.
• The law empowered the authorities to confiscate newspapers, close
down news providers, and arrest journalists. Using these laws, Ayub
Khan nationalized large parts of the press and took over one of the
two largest news agencies.
• The other agencies was pushed into severe crisis and had to seek
financial support from the government. Pakistani Radio and
Television, which was established in 1964 was also brought under
the strict control of the government.

4. Revised Press and Publication Ordinance (RPPO)
• More draconian additions were made to the PPO during the reign of General
Zia-Ul-Haq in the 1980s. According to these new amendments, the publisher
would be liable and prosecuted if a story was not to the liking of the
administration even if it was factual and of national interest.
• These amendments were used to promote Haq's Islamist leanings and
demonstrated the alliance between the military and religions leaders.
• Censorship during the Zia years was direct, concrete and dictatorial.
Newspapers were scrutinised; critical or undesired sections of an article
censored. In the wake of Zia-ul-Haq's sudden death and the return of
democracy, the way was paved to abate the draconian media laws through a
revision of media legislation called the Revised PPO (RPPO).

5. Defamation Law
DEFAMATION: Any wrongful act or publication or circulation of a false
statement or representation made orally or in written or visual form which injures
the reputation of a person, tends to lower him in the estimation of others or tends
to reduce him to ridicule, unjust criticism, dislike, contempt or hatred shall be
actionable as defamation.
(2) Defamation is of two forms, namely:–
(i) Slander; and
(ii) Libel.
(3) Any false oral statement or representation that amounts to defamation
shall be actionable as slander.
(4) Any false written, documentary or visual statement or representation
made either by ordinary form or expression or by electronic or other modern
means of devices that amounts to defamation shall be actionable as libel.

6. Contempt of Court
Any Act done or writing published calculated to bring a court, or a judge
of the court into contempt, or lower his/her authority is a contempt of
court. That is one class of contempt. Further, any act done of writing
published calculated to obstruct or interfere with the due course of justice,
or the lawful process of the court is a contempt of court. The article
published in a newspaper bearing comments on the proceedings of a
pending criminal case or a civil suit, with effect upon the judge, jury, the
parties, their witnesses or counsels appearing in the case, falls under
purview of the law of contempt.
Basically it originated with the idea that a judge should be able to control
the decorum of the courtroom and court proceedings and should have
authority to summarily punish those who violate that decorum.

7. Copyright law of Pakistan
The basic legal instrument governing copyright law in Pakistan is the
Copyright Ordinance, 1962 as amended by the Copyright (Amendment)
Ordinance, 2000.
Copyright means inter alia the exclusive right
 to reproduce the work
 to publish the work
 to perform or broadcast the work
 to make any translation or adaption of the work.
When copyright is infringed, the owner of copyright (as well as the exclusive
licensee) is entitled to certain civil remedies (injunction, damages, accounts; s.
60), either before the Court of the District Judge or the Copyright Board.

8. Musharraf ERA
• From 2002, under General Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani media faced a decisive
development that would lead to a boom in Pakistani electronic media and paved
the way to it gaining political clout. New liberal media laws broke the state's
monopoly on the electronic media. TV broadcasting and FM radio licenses were
issued to private media outlets.
• The military's motivation for liberalising media licensing was based on an
assumption that the Pakistani media could be used to strengthen national security
and counter any perceived threats from India. What prompted this shift was the
military's experience during the two past confrontations with India. One was the
Kargil War and the other was the hijacking of the India Airliner by militants. In
both these instances, the Pakistani military was left with no options to reciprocate
because its electronic media were inferior to that of the Indian media. Better
electronic media capacity was needed in the future and thus the market for
electronic media was liberalised.
• The justification was just as much a desire to counter the Indian media power, as it
was a wish to set the media "free" with the rights that electronic media had in
liberal, open societies. The military thought it could still control the media and
harness it if it strayed from what the regime believed was in the national interest -
and in accordance with its own political agenda.

9. Other Press Ordinance
1. The Printing Presses and Publications Ordinance 1988,
2. The Freedom of Information Ordinance of 2002,
3. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) of 2002,
4. The Defamation Ordinance of 2002,
5. The Contempt of Court Ordinance of 2003, the Press,
6. Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration Ordinance2003,
7. The Press Council Ordinance 2002,
8. The Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan Ordinance2005.
9. The Access to Information Ordinance of 2006.
10. There were attempts in 2006 for further legislation ostensibly "to streamline
registration of newspapers, periodicals, news and advertising agencies and
authentication of circulation figures of newspapers and periodicals
(PAPRA).

10. Thank you..!