The ‘International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists’ provides an urgent reminder for the need to change course by the authorities in Pakistan.
Country has to work towards building a safer environment for journalists and for the right to free expression to be protected.
The Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) has launched a report highlighting a bleak picture of media safety and free expression in Pakistan.Titles – “Attacked, Threatened, Booked and Silenced — looking back at the year, 2025” the report added that despite repeated reminders about the historic patterns, journalists and media professionals continue directly facing consequences for their work and work within a media environment in Pakistan .
The report highlights that between January and October 2025, PPF documented at least 137confirmed attacks on journalists and media professionals in connection with their work andattempts of censorship to regulate and restrict free expression.
These cases includes assault and violence.There were 35 instances of physical assault and manhandling, and 2 journalists injured in an accident while on assignment.
There were 5 detentions and two instances of abduction, 4 attacks on property including raids.The legal challenges faced by journalists and media includes 8 arrests,30 instances of case registration, including 22 with sections of Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA).
There have been 23 documented instances of legal action, by the Federal Investigation Agency(FIA) and National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA).Journalists faced intimidations and there were seven instances of threats issued including online threats/harassment.
There were three reported threats of legal action and seven instances of harassment and intimidation including through a journalist’s family or through the rhetoric, remarks and actions of political leaders or the government.
The year 2025 witnessed two journalists placed at No Fly List.The whole nation too suffers certain censorship, restrictions and regulation as on six occasions mobile or internet services were suspended.
The court ordered to block 27 YouTube channels and restriction on reporting from outside Adiala Jail was imposed as media was covering events related to Imran Khan.In one such instance, on August 22, journalist Khalid Jamil was arrested by the National CyberCrime Investigation Agency (NCCIA).
As per an FIR registered, Mr Jamil was found sharing “highly intimidating content on social media.”Following Jamil’s arrest, the investigation officer in his case had requested physical remand for six days. A written order issued by Judicial Magistrate West, Islamabad stated that the remarks quoted in the FIR didn’t fall “within any ambit of propagation or derogation.” It noted that every citizen is guaranteed the right to free speech under the Constitution.
The government functionaries applied tactic to undermine the sanctity of physical spaces, including press clubs.
On March 1, police forcibly entered the Quetta Press Club (QPC) premises.
On June 2, a group of men allegedly linked to one faction of the disputed custodians of the Luari Sharif shrine attacked the Badin Press Club.
On October 2, police violently raided the National Press Club and assaulted journalists at the press club premises.
The PPF has called for joint efforts towards implementing commitments that Pakistan has made both domestically and internationally to protect this right and to move beyond lip service to actual measures and effective implementation.
