By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s media regulator has ordered television channels to stop live coverage of explosions, gunfire and militant attacks, days after the government suspended the opposition-run administration of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said satellite channels must not broadcast, rebroadcast or cover live any “unpleasant” incident, and warned of legal action against any that defied the order.
In its notification, the regulator told licensees to refrain from airing “any unfortunate/unpleasant incident such as explosion, blast, firing, terrorist attack”. Channels, it said, must carry only “verified information” cleared by the relevant department or law enforcement agency.
Broadcasters were also told to make effective use of a time-delay mechanism and to set up an independent editorial board. The regulator said violations could lead to action under sections 29-A, 30 and 33 of the PEMRA Ordinance 2002, according to Dawn.
The notification gave no reason for the directive, which re-issued an order first made in February 2023. That order was imposed weeks after a deadly bombing at a mosque in Peshawar, when the regulator accused channels of airing unverified and speculative reports and of handing militants an “organisational advantage”. The Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors condemned that ban as illegal.
The latest notice follows a sharp escalation in tension between Islamabad and the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of the jailed former prime minister Imran Khan. President Asif Ali Zardari imposed a state of emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday, under two constitutional articles dealing with security. This effectively suspended the PTI-led provincial government, which has held power in the northwestern province since 2013.
The prime minister’s office said the cabinet had acted because of the provincial government’s “deliberate disengagement from the fight against terrorism”. The interior minister, Mohsin Naqvi, accused the suspended administration of being in league with the Pakistan Taliban and the Afghan Taliban, according to Al Jazeera.
The PTI has rejected the move as a pretext for a political takeover. Its spokesman, Zulfikar Bukhari, called it “more of a coup disguised as emergency” and warned of further bloodshed. PTI officials said the provincial chief minister, Sohail Afridi, was detained after the announcement. Local reports said mobile and internet services were slowed or suspended in parts of some cities.
On Tuesday, police fired tear gas and live rounds at Khan’s supporters as clashes broke out in Khyber tribal district over the suspension, PTI officials said. The provincial administration rejected that account. Police in the province have since arrested about 50 people and registered four cases under the Anti-Terrorism Act, according to reports.
The government has pointed to a surge in militancy. Security reports presented to the federal cabinet showed a 195 per cent rise in terrorist incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa between March 2024 and September 2026, the Daily Times reported.
The directive adds to restrictions on reporting in Pakistan. In August, the authorities introduced rules requiring international journalists, and Pakistanis who contribute to foreign outlets, including web-based and social media platforms, to obtain a no-objection certificate for “official assignments, especially for work outside Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi”.
The government said at the time that the guidelines were not meant to restrict the media but to “provide an administrative mechanism” to verify outlets, facilitate access and coordinate reporting needs. Journalist bodies criticised the rules.
Last month, nine Pakistani and international press freedom and rights groups urged the prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, to address what they called the country’s “rapidly deteriorating press freedom climate” and to withdraw the permission requirement.
Pakistan ranks 153rd out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2026 World Press Freedom Index, placing it in the lowest of the index’s five categories.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
