Apparently, some Pakistanis do not take criticism well and have therefore taken offence at BBC’s documentary entitled ‘Secret Pakistan’, which questions Pakistan’s role in tackling the menace of militancy in the war against terror. Our not-so-liberal and narrow-minded media regulatory authorities have also threatened to block all other foreign news channels that indulge in ‘propaganda campaigns’ against Pakistan. Last year, there was a ban on Facebook, the social networking site, and recently a list of seemingly innocuous words was banned on sms’s by categorising them as ‘obscene and indecent’ by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA). One can never truly comprehend the concept behind such irrational bans by the regulating authorities, and what level of success they hope to attain by blocking one or more foreign news channels, is anybody’s guess. The extent to which they are willing to go to achieve their shortsighted objectives is questionable, to say the least. In today’s interconnected world, where there is a plethora of information sources, it is virtually impossible to block anything completely, and expect absolute ignorance to prevail despite the blockage of a few conduits. Freedom of expression and right to information are two very important aspects of any society built on democratic and liberal values. The censorship of a foreign news channel is an attempt to jeopardise the real purpose of the media — to seek truth and report it on the basis of factual evidence. It is not only in the interests of the public but it is also their right to have access to all sorts of information as it is critical to their decision-making processes. Shutting down a news channel for broadcasting a documentary film that articulates a seemingly ‘negative image’ of Pakistan only reflects a state of paranoia and insecurity on the part of the blockers. If such a documentary is thought to be disagreeable and disputable, then there exist sufficient means of challenging its credibility other than censoring the channel altogether. Such retrograde lines of reasoning are the cause of the widespread intolerance that impedes our societal advancement. The government must not allow such unreasonable regulatory policies that are in blatant violation of the citizens’ right to information, especially the truth, and must adopt some maturity in its handling of situations that incur the displeasure of insecure elements in authority, an authority disturbingly being misused for censorship. *