Pakistani journalists faced at least 125 incidents of “violations” from April 2025 to March 2026, a local media rights and civil liberties organization said in a report on Wednesday, criticizing the government’s cybercrime law for suppressing freedom of speech and expression online.
These findings were part of the Freedom Network’s annual report titled ‘Regulatory Repression of Freedom of Expression – Legal Controls and PECA Undermine Media and Journalism in Pakistan.’ The report was issued ahead of World Press Freedom on May 3.
Pakistan is frequently cited among countries considered dangerous for journalists worldwide. Journalists have often accused authorities of suppressing their right to freedom of speech via coercive methods. Pakistan’s government deny these allegations.
“In terms of journalist safety, the report documented at least 129 verified incidents of violations during the review period, which ranged between April 2025 to March 2026,” the Freedom Network’s report said.
“Legal threats and physical violence accounted for nearly two-thirds of these cases.”
The report said these violations include two murders, five cases of threats to murder, 58 legal cases (mostly related to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act), 16 cases of assault, 11 cases of threats to harm and two cases of kidnapping and enforced disappearance.
The report said that Pakistan’s Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces emerged as the “most dangerous regions for journalists “during the review period, while murders in Sindh and Balochistan underscored persistent risks.
“State authorities were suspected as the leading perpetrators, responsible for over 60 percent of violations, primarily through legal and custodial actions,” the report said.
“Non-state actors, including militant groups and criminal networks, also contributed to threats, assaults, and killings.”
Freedom Network noted that women journalists in Pakistan remained particularly marginalized within the media sector, adding that harassment, online abuse and workplace discrimination continued to create a hostile environment for them.
It said that PECA, originally enacted in 2016 to combat cybercrimes, with its “draconian amendments” in 2025 have increasingly been used to criminalize lawful expression, target dissent and intimidate journalists, lawyers and political commentators.
It highlighted the recent high-profile convictions of human rights lawyers, including Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha, as examples of how sentences are used to deter dissent.
“The weaponization of PECA has created a climate of fear where journalists are compelled to self-censor to avoid legal repercussions,” Iqbal Khattak, Freedom Network’s executive director, said.
“This represents one of the most serious threats to media freedom in Pakistan today.”
Pakistan’s government, however, has promised to provide a safe and conducive environment for journalists.
“We will take all necessary measures to enable effective investigation of crimes against journalists, ensure justice, and hold perpetrators accountable under the law,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Nov. 2 last year on the ‘International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.’