Pakistan ranked 145th in Press Freedom Index of 180 countries
Pakistani media under pressure since PTI came into power in 2018 says Reporters Without Borders
Journalists, who dared to broach subjects deemed off limits, have been subjected to harassment campaigns. Several were abducted in 2020 in order to be told: “Stop covering unwelcome stories or your family won’t find you alive.”
After reining in the traditional media, the authorities have set about purging the Internet and social media of content not to its liking. To that end, the government is trying to step up online “regulation,” by which it clearly means censorship.
A new phenomenon is emerging – cyber-harassment campaigns by trolls against journalists, especially women journalists. Reporters meanwhile continue to be at risk in the field, especially in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where they are caught in the crossfire between the security forces and armed rebels.
Four journalists were killed in 2020 in connection with their reporting, especially investigative reporting on corruption or drug trafficking. And, as has been the case for at least a decade, impunity for crimes of violence against journalists is total, the report said. The influence on journalism has increased in the country, it said.
The RSF report revealed that journalism was at least partly blocked in
nearly three-quarters of the 180 countries surveyed.
Its World Press Freedom Index found 73 countries
"totally blocked or seriously impeded" journalism, while it was
"constrained" in 59 others, adding that many governments had used the
pandemic to worsen repression.
The RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said in a statement, said: "Journalism is the best vaccine against disinformation." "Unfortunately, its production and distribution are too often blocked by political, economic, technological and, sometimes, even cultural factors."
The report finds Eritrea, North Korea, Turkmenistan, China and Djibouti to have fared worst overall in this year´s RSF ranking. Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Costa Rica were ranked highest. The Middle East and North Africa region continues to be the most repressive for journalists, the report found, highlighting the worsening situation in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria over the past year.
"In this region, still the toughest and most dangerous
for journalists, the pandemic has exacerbated the problems that have long
plagued the press, which was already in its death throes," it said.
Malaysia recorded the worst deterioration, down 18 places in the ranking to
119, due in part to a recent "anti-fake news" law "allowing the
government to impose its own version of the truth".
RSF said the global level of media freedom remained largely
stable overall for the past year, but noted that the figures had deteriorated
by 12 percent since the ranking was first launched in 2013.
Part of the problem is falling trust in journalists, fuelled
by political polarisation and online misinformation. RSF noted a recent survey
by the Edelman Trust that found 59 percent of respondents across 28 countries
believed journalists deliberately misled the public.
The World Press Freedom Index is based on questionnaires
sent to experts around the world, combined with data on abuse and acts of
violence against journalists to form a picture that includes pluralism, media
independence, self-censorship and other factors
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