The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has imposed a blanket ban on broadcasting live or recorded speeches of former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on all satellite TV channels. “It has been observed that Mr Imran Khan, Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, in his speeches/statements is continuously…levelling baseless allegations and spreading hate speech through his provocative statements against state institutions and officers which is prejudicial to the maintenance of law and order and is likely to disturb public peace and tranquillity,” read an order issued by the media regulatory authority on Sunday.
PEMRA said airing of hateful, slanderous and unwarranted statements against state institutions is “in sheer violation of Article 19 of the Constitution and a judgment of the Supreme Court”. It has been observed that such content was telecasted by TV channels without effective utilisation of time-delay mechanism in violation of provisions of PEMRA laws as well as judgments of the apex courts, the media regulator added.
“Therefore, the competent authority i.e. Chairman PEMRA…hereby prohibits broadcast/rebroadcast of speech(s)/press talks (recorded or live) of Mr Imran Khan on all satellite TV channels with immediate effect,” read the PEMRA order. The regulatory body also directed all satellite TV channels to ensure that impartial editorial boards be constituted, as required under Clause 17 of Electronic Media (Programmes and Advertisement) Code of Conduct 2015, to ensure their platforms are not used for airing contemptuous remarks or hateful or prejudicial statement against state institutions or in the interest of public law and order.
The authority warned the TV channels that their license would be suspended in case of non-compliance. PEMRA had prohibited the broadcast and re-broadcast of speeches and press conferences of the PTI chairman in November last year as well, only to be revoked by the federal government the same day.
Reacting to the ban, PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry said that the government appeared to be “panicking”.
“In another nefarious attempt to silence Imran’s voice, the imported government has imposed a ban on broadcasting Imran’s speeches on TV,” he said. Fawad added that the PTI would challenge the ban in court and urged the media fraternity to do the same. “Using Pemra as a political tool and banning leaders like @ImranKhanPTI will not address the challenges Pakistan faces today,” said PTI leader Ali Haider Zaidi. PTI’s Omar Ayub Khan said that the “imported government has panicked”.