FREEDOM OF SPEECH

EDITORIAL PUBLISHED BY DAWN 19 NOV 2022:

By not allowing film "JOYLAND" to be screened in cinema
of Punjab shows that its priorities lies not in its
constitionally granted freedom of speech and expression
but in pandering to the religious orthodoxy.

Published 29 nov 2022

"Constitutional supermacy is impossible without ensuring

freedom of media".
Massarat jamshad cheema said in seminar that social
media is more critical than constructive.
Muhammad Hassan said Ukrain and Russia war could be
discussed in the media but there were restriction on talk
on Kashmir and Burhan Wani.
Khalid Mehmood said social mediahad changed the
political,social and economic lifestyle of people.
China allow the type of political freedom seen in the
west, the leadership in Beijing should nonetheless listen
to the people's grievances and not punish them for
expressing themselve-refer to china's masses protest
againts strict measures of "Zero Covid Policy"
editorial by dawn publihed in Dec 2 2022
WHEN it comes to press freedom, the arrest of journalist Shahid Aslam
highlights the weaknesses in our democracy and the state’s failure to do
the right thing. Mr Aslam was arrested by the FIA after the publication
of an online story about retired army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa’s taxes
and wealth statements last November. According to the article, Gen
Bajwa’s family amassed billions of rupees in the last six years. It is
alleged that Mr Aslam, who has been sent to jail on judicial remand,
contributed to the story by leaking data, but the journalist who wrote
the story later said Mr Aslam had no connection to it. Mr Aslam’s
lawyer, too, has told the court that the journalist committed no
illegality. Yet he is being hounded. All too often, journalists have been
dragged to court, threatened and intimidated for publishing stories that
have raised questions about military officers. This case again proves that
the state prefers to shoot the messenger rather than open an inquiry
about the message.. Unfortunately, successive governments, even if
elected democratically, have been only too happy to facilitate the
persecution of journalists at the behest of a higher authority. To prove
that Pakistan is not a democracy in name only, the state must release
Mr Aslam and refrain from such knee-jerk reactions.
Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2023

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https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/free-speech-hate-speech-journey-towards-coexistence-needs-
dialogue

he Musharraf military government had extensively liberalized the broadcast news media For instance, aft
er the

CIA operative Raymond Davis was arrested in Lahore for killing two Pakistanis in January 2011, the ISI
leaked the names of fi ft y- fi ve American “spies”

to show how the PPP government’s lax visa policy had made it possible for

the CIA to expand its network within Pakistan.112 It also deliberately leaked

the name of the CIA station chief in Pakistan to settle scores with the Americans for the humiliation they
had caused it with the raid that killed bin

Laden . Some “friendly” journalists

launched unexpected criticism of the military for its disastrous policies of

nurturing militants and its transparent incompetence despite receiving a

large share of the national bud get.114 In turn, the military publicly warned

its critics to stop “trying to deliberately run down the Armed Forces and the

Army in par tic u lar” and threatened “to put an end” to “any eff ort to create

divisions between important institutions of the country”d. Aft er Geo

TV hurriedly broadcast the allegations, splashing a picture of the DG- ISI

Lieutenant General Zaheerul Islam Abbassi across TV screens in Pakistan

for hours, the ISI had Pakistan’s Defense Ministry petition the Pakistan

Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), the country’s electronic media regulator, to revoke Geo TV’s
transmission license and initiate criminal

charges against its management for defaming the state. In addition, ISIbacked militant organizations,
such as the Jamaat- ut- Dawa, staged angry

protests, which competitor pro- military media organizations then broadcast along with talk shows
segments questioning the patriotism of Mir and

Geo TV. Ultimately, Geo and its affi liated newspapers were banned from

military bases and units,117 and the ISI reportedly pressured cable TV

operators around the country to block the channel’s transmissionPresident Barack Obama as the
Enhanced Partnership

Act of 2009, which off ers Pakistan $1.5 billion annually in nonmilitary,

developmental U.S. aid for fi ve years. While the civilian government welcomed the aid, the military
joined right- wing opposition parties and publicly expressed its outrage118 over “critical provisions [that]
were almost entirely directed against the Army,” particularly the conditioning of American

military assistance on certifi cation by the U.S. secretary of state that the

military was operating under civilian control and keeping out of po liti cal

and judicial pro cesses.119 Th e military also reportedly encouraged TV talk

show anchors to mobilize public opinion against the law by presenting it as

a blatant example of U.S. interference in Pakistan’s internal matters, which

it could then use to pressure the Americans into modifying the legislation.120 Th us, cable news
channels concocted conspiracy theories, painting
the bill as part of America’s sinister design to weaken the country’s security

institutions as a way of depriving it of nuclear weapons. While openly

praising the military for its principled stand against the Americans, many

in the media targeted the PPP government, portraying it as an American

stooge out to sell the country’s honor (pakistan at cross road....reference book)