Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has banned the broadcasting of statements and speeches of ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan. PEMRA has issued instructions to all licensed TV channels not to broadcast Imran Khan’s recorded statements, live talks, or press conferences against state institutions. The statement said that the chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) is constantly making baseless accusations against the state institutions in his speeches and statements; spreading hatred against the institutions and their officers with his provocative comments, which can damage the peace and harmony in the country.
PEMRA said that accusations, hateful charges, character assassination, and unjustified statements against state institutions/ officials are a violation of Article 19 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and decisions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. It was also said by PEMRA that after a careful review of the content of the speeches and statements and in view of the continuous violations of the PEMRA rules, under Section 27(a) of the PEMRA Ordinance 2002, broadcast of Imran Khan’s statements, press conferences, and speeches on all satellite channels are banned with immediate effect. All channels were further directed to ensure that no one uses their platform for defamatory rhetoric against state institutions. The authority warned that in case of any violation of these orders, the license of the channel will be suspended without any show cause notice under Section 30(3) of the PAMRA Ordinance. Earlier, addressing the workers from his residence in Zaman Park Lahore, Imran Khan without mentioning the name of any military personnel criticized them for making “videos of people without clothes”.
After being banned by PEMRA, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf has announced the broadcast of Imran Khan’s speech live on YouTube. In a message on the social media website Twitter, it said by the PTI, “PEMRA has banned the live broadcast of Chairman Imran Khan’s speech, so you should subscribe to PTI’s official YouTube channel to watch Imran Khan”.
EAT News talked to the former federal minister and PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry on this issue who has announced to challenge this decision in court. He said, “the government of bandit people is completely panicked. It is another nefarious attempt to suppress the voice of Imran Khan, the imported government banned the broadcast of Imran Khan’s speeches and statements on TV. Imran Khan does not need media and TV channels, rather, they need Imran Khan. PEMRA should understand that people are already moving from mainstream traditional media to social media. If you block something on mainstream media, people will switch over to social media but imposing a ban on politicians is also harmful to the media industry”. “PTI will challenge this ban in court and also request the media to challenge this order themselves”, Mr. Fawad Chaudhry added.
It is also being discussed in the country that Imran Khan’s speeches have been banned at a time when he is about to start his election campaign. EAT News interviewed media affairs expert Asad Baig who believes that Chairman Tehreek-e-Insaf has always mobilized his spotters on social media and this time he is also doing the same.
“They (PTI) normally have a separate media cell to telecast the speeches of party leadership therefore, such decisions do not affect the PTI election campaign. It is a wrong act of PEMRA to prohibit anyone on TV channels as it is a violation of fundamental rights like freedom of opinion and free media. A ban on someone’s speech can be imposed only when there is an apprehension that his/her words may worsen the situation and disturb the law and order situation like spreading religious disorder. It is inappropriate to ban a political leader. But I think it doesn’t matter because we are living in the age of social media. As far as Imran Khan is concerned, a huge number of his followers are already on social media. They are still talking on social media and run trends against institutions every day”.
The Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND) also rejected PEMRA’s ban on broadcasting Imran Khan’s speeches, statements, and conversations. AEMEND believes “the ban on speeches of Imran Khan by PEMRA is a violation of fundamental constitutional rights, the constitution allows every person to speak and write according to the legal regulations. Channels are also responsible for imparting information to the public as well as following the PEMRA rules and regulations. According to PEMRA rules, the channels have their own institutional mechanism and effective delay system, if a channel is deliberately or unknowingly negligent in this matter, there is a law. It is illegal to stop the channels from broadcasting the speech or talk of a political leader”.
On the other hand, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has also condemned the ban on the broadcast of Imran Khan’s speeches on electronic media. In a statement, HRCP said that the ban on the broadcasting of Imran Khan’s speeches on electronic media is regrettable, we have always opposed measures to suppress voices, whether these actions were taken during the previous administration or by the current government, we stand by our commitment to freedom of expression.
EAT News interviewed Absar Aalam former chairman PEMRA on this matter, who said, “PEMRA is an organization that has no authority of its own. Most of the time PEMRA is under pressure from different state institutions, government authorities, and media owners”. He further said “our media is also guilty of all this because they are also equally involved in making propaganda. We talk about independent media, but we do not talk about whether it is the media’s responsibility to take care of ethics”. According to Absar Alam, banning the speech of a political leader does not make any difference, “People understand these things now”.
Previously, in August last year, PEMRA banned all TV channels from broadcasting the speeches of former Prime Minister Imran Khan live, but a week later, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended this order. In November last year too, PEMRA banned the broadcasting of Imran Khan’s live or recorded speeches or statements, but the said ban was withdrawn after some time on the orders of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government.
Independent experts believe that PTI has a strong social media wing, they are already reaching people through social media websites. Banning the speeches of Imran Khan on TV will not make a huge difference because they (PTI) immediately shifted to social media platforms.
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