Pakistan bans foreign media after criticism over PoK crackdown

After facing global criticism over its handling of protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK), Islamabad has aggressively tightened its control over foreign media by introducing new rules that require foreign journalists to obtain prior government approval before reporting from most parts of the country. Pakistan is under international scrutiny over its handling of protests and crackdown in POK, where human rights groups and press freedom organisations have raised concerns over restrictions on journalists, internet blackouts and the use of force against demonstrators.
Pakistan has reportedly expanded digital censorship measures by restricting access to several news websites following extensive media coverage of the ongoing unrest in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK). Alongside the reported blocking of local and regional news websites, international broadcasters, have also become inaccessible to users in parts of Pakistan, according to media reports cited by ANI.
The move came after critical coverage by the international media of the ongoing unrest in PoK. While the Pakistani media maintained silence on the unrest and carried only government press releases, international media outlets such as Al Jazeera and the BBC reported from the ground, exposing police brutality amid the ongoing Assembly elections.Now,Pakistan blocked the Al Jazeera website in the country.
As the unrest in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) continues to mount, the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) on Tuesday alleged that Pakistani forces opened live fire and used tear gas against unarmed civilians in Bagh district. JAAC said this on a social media platform while sharing the ground footage. The allegations also include Pakistani forces setting civilians’ motorcycles ablaze in the Makri region of Muzaffarabad district in the occupied territory. These latest incidents came amid escalating brutality by Pakistani forces against protestors across PoJK, where over 50 people have reportedly been killed and hundreds injured over the past few days.
Locals claimed that the elections in PoK were rigged. “What I saw in AJK (PoK) polls while reporting… most people I spoke to in Muzaffarabad boycotted polls after 50-plus deaths in AJK reportedly since the June protests erupted. We witnessed violent clashes in Lower and Central Plate. People were too scared to speak on record,” Ramna Saeed, a journalist with Independent Urdu, posted on X.