• January 16, 2020
• General News

KARACHI: The Pakistan government intensified its clampdown on the media, opposition parties and non-governmental organisations last year, according to a report by the Human Rights Watch (HRW). In the 30th edition of its World Report 2020, the HRW reviewed human rights practices in nearly 100 countries. In Pakistan, women, religious minorities and transgender people continued to […]

• January 16, 2020
• Social Media

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Commit­tee on Information Technology on Wednesday asked the government to enter into an agreement with Twitter’s management to share information and block fake accounts. The committee members asked the authorities concerned to identify accounts that were allegedly involved in defamation and harassment of individuals as well as organisations. The committee meeting, […]

• January 16, 2020
• Social Media

LAHORE:Journalists have identified social media as the hotbed of the spread of false information, noting that the increasing crisis of confidence in journalism is being fed by the weaponisation of the term fake news, according to a recent study. The Digital Rights Foundation, a non-government advocacy-based research organization, on Wednesday released its report titled “Sifting […]

• January 16, 2020
• Freedom of Expression, Social Media

Journalist bodies of occupied Kashmir urged the Indian government to lift the ongoing ban on the internet in the region, which entered its 165th day on Wednesday. In a session dubbed ‘cyber curfew’, which was held at the Kashmir Press Club, journalists from different media outlets and bodies lamented that they were forced to work […]

• January 15, 2020
• General News

LAHORE: At a seminar held by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on constitutionalism and human rights, a high-profile panel of human rights defenders discussed a way forward for Pakistan to progress as a democracy. The panel included HRCP honorary spokesperson I.A. Rehman, HRCP Secretary General Harris Khalique, HRCP council member and Supreme Court […]

• January 15, 2020
• General News

A district and sessions court on Tuesday rejected a bail application filed by Adil Zaman in the DHA double murders case. Adil and his brother Atif Zaman are standing trial for the murder of anchorperson Mureed Abbas and Khizar Hayat. Atif owed money to the victims, and upon their insistence to return the amount, he […]

• January 15, 2020
• General News

ANNUAL REPORT BY RIGHTS WATCHDOG SLAMS GROWING CRACKDOWN ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION UNDER PTI-LED GOVERNMENT The growing crackdown on freedom of expression in Pakistan throughout 2019 is a failure of the government to fulfill one of the basic duties of a democratic state, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday. In the 30th edition of World […]

• January 14, 2020
• Obituaries

HYDERABAD: Literati and other scholars paid homage to short story writer Hameed Sindhi at a condolence reference organised at Sindh Museum by the culture department in collaboration with the Bazm-i-Rooh Rehan on Sunday evening. Speaking to the audience, poet Imdad Hussaini said that magazine Rooh Rehan was Sindhi’s love but when it was closed nobody […]

• January 14, 2020
• Broadcasting

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) chairman Mirza Saleem Baig has filed an application in an accountability court, seeking acquittal in a reference relating to alleged irregularity committed in the award of advertising contracts. Accountability judge Azam Khan took up the application. Former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani is also an accused in […]

• January 14, 2020
• Freedom of Expression, Social Media

SRINAGAR:Braving the snow and cold, Abrar Ahmad, 18, is one of thousands of Kashmiris who regularly spend hours journeying on a packed train just so that they can go online as Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) grapples with the longest internet blackout imposed by the Modi government. Stepping off the crammed train – dubbed the “Internet Express” […]

• January 14, 2020
• Obituaries

RAWALPINDI:Literary organization “Daira” in collaboration with Punjab Council of the Arts, Rawalpindi (PUCAR) arranged a condolence and literary reference for senior journalist late Syed Shams Rizvi here on Tuesday. The conference was presided over by Dr Ghazanfar Mehdi and addressed by Shamim Haider Syed, Director PUCAR Waqar Ahmed, Allama, Qamar Haider, Dr Riaz Ahmed, Dr […]

• January 13, 2020
• Broadcasting, Media and Governance, Media Safety

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) Chairman has received second complaint of women harassment against a senior officer in less than two months. The first complaint was filed by a female employee of State Life Insurance Corporation in the mid of November last year who claimed that Pemra’s senior officer harassed her and misbehaved […]

• January 13, 2020
• Freedom of Expression, Social Media

The chief US diplomat for South Asian affairs, Alice Wells, has expressed concern over continued detentions and internet-shutdown in occupied Kashmir, days before her visit to New Delhi for bilateral talks. “Closely following US ambassador to India and other foreign diplomats’ recent trip to Jammu & Kashmir. Important step,” she wrote in a tweet posted […]

• January 13, 2020
• Media and Governance

Chairman Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has congratulated the newly-elected President of Karachi Press Club Imtiaz Khan Faran after his win in re-polling held on Saturday. In a message, the PPP Chairman said that Faran is a senior journalist who had struggled for the rights and welfare of journalist community in the past as […]