Screenshot of the cover page of the Freedom Network’s 2021-2022 State of Press Freedom Annual Report. Fair use.
On the occasion of world press freedom dayindependent media and civil liberties organization based in Pakistan Freedom Network released a report which revealed that journalists in Pakistan were mainly targeted by state actors over the past year (May 2021 to April 2022) during the Imran Khan government, resulting in violence, prosecution, kidnapping, detention and threats. Pakistan also recorded a sharp decline of 12 points in World Press Freedom Index 2022.
According to the report,
Most dangerous areas for #Journalists in #Pakistan #FreedomNetwork publishes 2022 annual report on press freedom in Pakistan#Journalismisnotacrime #wpfd2022#wpfdhttps://t.co/Uxc28D22RZ pic.twitter.com/k4Ou5RfxBi
— Freedom Network (@pressfreedompk) April 29, 2022
The report also mentions the highest number of attacks were carried out on the houses of journalists, while two journalists were killed.
List of threats #DigitalJournalists confronted in #Pakistan #FreedomNetwork publishes 2022 annual report on press freedom in Pakistan#Journalismisnotacrime #WPFD2022#wpfdhttps://t.co/Uxc28D22RZ pic.twitter.com/nks7UKJo58
— Freedom Network (@pressfreedompk) April 29, 2022
The report also listing that state actors and officials targeted journalists the most in Pakistan – 35 cases. most targeted media was television (39 cases), followed by the written press (35 cases).
Sharp drop in the World Press Freedom Index
According to 2o22 World Press Freedom Index report, Pakistan dropped 12 points in the index, falling from a rank of 145 in 2021 to 157 in 2022.
Writer Madiha Afzal documents how Pakistan and a number of South Asian countries rank at the bottom of the press freedom list.
RSF Press Freedom Index 2022 – Ranking of South Asian countries among the major powers and in the world:
#1 – Norway
#42 – America
#76 – Nepal
#146 – Sri Lanka
#150 – India
#155 – Russia
#156 – Afghanistan
#157 – Pakistani
#162 – Bangladesh
#175 – China
#180 – North Korea (bottom)— Madiha Afzal (@MadihaAfzal) May 4, 2022
Many social media outlets have highlighted this decline in press freedom in Pakistan.
Journalist Waleed Tariq highlighted the decline:
@RSF_inter publishes its annual World Press Freedom Index 2022.
Pakistan, which was previously ranked 145th out of 180 countries, drops another 12 places to 157th in the latest index.
Dark red – Very serious situation pic.twitter.com/Ln5RWJKkcw
— Waleed Tariq (@WaleedTariq89) May 3, 2022
Motivational speaker Shafique Khan tweeted:
It’s time to ask questions @ImranKhanPTI when he came to power in 2018, Pakistan was ranked 139 on the world press index, Pakistan fell to 157 in 2022. Why Pakistan lost 18 points under his rule? Why was he declared a predator of press freedom by @RSF_inter in 2021?
— Sir Shafique Khan (@Shafiqu98756666) May 8, 2022
The new prime minister Shehbaz Sharif also condemned Imran Khan’s legacy on Twitter:
Pakistan lost 12 points on the press freedom index during the last year of Imran Khan’s government and 18 points during his tenure. This not only earned him the shameful title of “predator of press freedom”, but also put our democracy in a bad light. We are fully committed to freedom of press and expression!
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) May 4, 2022
The reports are contrary to what former Prime Minister Imran Khan said in his speeches regarding the free press. In one of his statements in September 2021, he said, “The media enjoyed ‘more freedom than ever’ under the PTI government.” In another statement on March 1, 2022, he accused a section of the media that criticized his policies of having hand in hand with the mafiaindirectly pointing to other political parties.
However, during Imran Khan’s tenure, female journalists were harassed, threatened and subjected to severe online abuse. In 2020, some female journalists also meet Chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party and former Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights Bilawal Bhuto register their complaint.
Archen Baloch, a journalist from Balochistan tweeted:
Restrictions imposed by Pakistan in Balochistan include:
1. No international media are allowed to enter Balochistan
2. No foreign country except Iran is allowed to establish Consulate General office in the cities of Balochistan #Quetta #Gwadar #Turbat #Khuzdarhttps://t.co/fq3KBK8pXD— Archen Baloch (@ArchenBaloch) May 4, 2022
You can download the Pakistan Press Freedom Report 2021-2022 by Freedom Network from here.
Comments are closed.