Pakistan Tightens Grip on Foreign Media Amid Kashmir Tensions
Pakistan’s Information Ministry released new Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines on Sunday that require any reporter for foreign outlets, or Pakistani nationals working abroad, to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) if they wish to cover stories outside the government‑downtrodden cities of Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. The policy adds a bureaucratic layer to the already cumbersome process that often takes months, or can leave reporters stranded without any clearance at all.
This directly impacts coverage of the violent protests brewing in Pakistan‑administered Kashmir (PAK). When international news outlets such as the BBC and Al Jazeera published reports from inside PAK, authorities instantly responded with a WhatsApp notice demanding an immediate NOC. The Ministry claims the guidelines are an "administrative mechanism" to verify media and coordinate access, however critics say they are tantamount to choking international press freedom.
Pakistan ranks 153 out of 180 on the World Press Freedom Index, and curtailing the mobility of foreign journalists threatens to worsen an already precarious situation. While local media can normally travel more freely, the new rules will require freelancers and contributors living outside the three cities to secure NOCs for each assignment, inevitably delaying or blocking coverage of breaking events.
Zaffar Abbas, editor of the Dawn newspaper, stormed the pages of the ruling, calling the guidelines "ridiculous" and arguing they blur the line between internal regulation and censorship. He noted that even today, many journalists face months of uncertainty or outright denial when they seek clearance to report from critical hotspots.
The Ministry also introduced a provision that could strip accredited journalists of their status for "acts against ideology, sovereignty, security or public order of Pakistan." This clause is seen as vague and potentially abused, according to political commentator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar and Supreme Court lawyer Salhuddin Ahmed, who highlighted that the guidelines lack statutory backing.
International journalists and representatives of the Federal Union of Journalists are pushing to meet the information minister to express their concerns, hoping the government will clarify the criteria and time frames for NOC approval. Until then, coverage of the unrest, the local election boycott and the broader Kashmir dispute remains fraught with risk for foreign reporters, risking a further erosion of press liberty in the region.
