Pakistan’s media regulatory body, PEMRA has issued an advisory warning against airing satirical content.In a release currently ‘doing the rounds’ on social media, the regulatory body requests Pakistani media “refrain from airing any content which is demeaning, creates hatred towards any individual or mocks any personality associated with any political party or law enforcement agency.”The authority says in the release it is issuing the advice against satire and mockery in response to TV viewers “expressing loath and disapproval” towards such content.
The document has been widely (and somewhat ironically) mocked by users on Twitter who say the document is attacking free speech and accuse the authority and government of controlling the media and censorship.Welcome to Naya Pakistan WoW, the media are being advised, by PEMRA. This is called, controlled media It was Asad Umar, said; “Media is free,” but he forgot to say that his govt. sends letter of Advice pic.twitter.com/ssP2rkmYaA
— Veengas (@VeengasJ) June 13, 2019
Dear #PEMRA,I'm also part of the public and no I do not loathe satirical content on TV. On the contrary, I believe we need more of it. The only reasonable observation made in this document is disallowing hate mongering against individuals. It's useless apart from that. pic.twitter.com/cuucGNwVVR
— Rutaba / رطابۂ (@Rutaba_Tariq) June 14, 2019
Pakistan was ranked 142nd out of 180 countries on the 2019 world press freedom index. The index describes PEMRA as a government “censorship” tool and describes the media in Pakistan as “under the military establishment’s thumb.”Israel is ranked 88th on the 2019 World Press Freedom Index, which describes the freedom as “rare in the Middle East.”Are they proposing a ban on themselves?Because Pemra has become a joke. pic.twitter.com/8TPCpkBvmL
— Gibran Peshimam (@gibranp) June 13, 2019