Islamabad, Aug 20 (IANS) Several media professionals, artists, academicians and human rights defenders from across Pakistan have warned that the country is witnessing one of the gravest crisis for freedom of expression in recent decades.
The observations were made during a roundtable convened by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) with the support of the European Union (EU).
According to the HRCP, the participants raised concerns over unchecked abuse of laws such as the country’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), expanding censorship, surveillance and arbitrary restrictions on online expression.
They also pointed to shrinking access to information, intimidation of journalists and increasing pressure on independent, regional and digital media in Pakistan.
They further stressed that these curbs no longer affected journalists alone, but also ordinary citizens exercising their constitutional right to free expression.
During the discussions, the participants agreed to establish a broad national alliance to “confront the escalating assault on freedom of expression”.
“The proposed alliance will bring together journalists’ unions, press clubs, freelance and digital journalists, lawyers, artists, civil society organisations and other democratic actors to coordinate advocacy, strategic litigation, documentation, rapid-response mechanisms and public mobilisation in defence of freedom of expression across Pakistan,” the HRCP stated.
“Participants also agreed on a common reform agenda. They called for the repeal or amendment of laws, regulations and administrative measures that criminalise dissent, restrict online speech or enable censorship; an end to impunity for attacks, enforced disappearances, killings, threats and harassment of journalists; and stronger safeguards to protect editorial independence from political, commercial and institutional interference,” it added.
The meeting underscored the need to create safer and more equitable spaces for women journalists across Pakistan, while ensuring equal protections to freelance and digital media practitioners.
The participants urged journalists’ unions, associations and press clubs to modernise their role by providing legal assistance, collective representation and emergency safety support. They also called on media organisations to guarantee fair wages, written contracts, insurance coverage and safe working conditions for journalists in Pakistan.
Earlier this month, several media bodies criticised Pakistan’s newly implemented Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines 2026, terming it a “direct assault on press freedom” and saying it amounts to “attacking the freedom of expression.”
The newly-issued Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines 2026 require all foreign journalists to secure a no-objection certificate (NOC) from Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MOIB) to travel to any city outside Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi for news reporting.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) urged the Pakistan government to withdraw these guidelines. Criticising the measures, Waliullah Rahmani, CPJ Afghanistan and Pakistan Representative, said: “The Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines open the door for Pakistani authorities to further restrict international media coverage, prevent journalists from reporting freely outside Pakistan’s three main cities, and risk exposing them to administrative retaliation.”
He said that these guidelines mark yet another “appalling blow to press freedom in Pakistan, where journalists are already facing an intense crackdown”, particularly those reporting on unrest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
–IANS
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