Pakistani authorities have imposed new restrictions on international media reporting in the country in a move that has drawn sharp criticism from journalist organisations.

Anyone working for foreign media, including Pakistani nationals, must now seek permission to report from anywhere except the cities of Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore.

The restrictions would leave on-the-ground reporting by foreign media at the discretion and timing of the authorities across most of Pakistan, which currently ranks 153 out of 180 on the World Press Freedom Index.

"These guidelines are tantamount to choking international media in an increasingly shrinking space," said political commentator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar.

Limitations on the media are not new, but local media are often subject to more pressure than international outlets.

"The public looks at the international media for independent reporting," Khokhar says. “Placing restrictions simply creates more room for disinformation and spread of fake news.”

Pakistan's government said the guidelines, issued on Sunday, are not to restrict media but to "provide an administrative mechanism" to verify media, facilitate access and co-ordinate reporting requirements.

The new rules - called the Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines, 2026 - do not set out how long gaining permission, known as a No Objection Certificate or NOC, can take.

Foreign journalists already require NOCs and can wait months for permissions or never receive an answer - severely curtailing their ability to report breaking news stories from the ground in the country of 240 million people.

International media outlets often therefore rely on Pakistani nationals, who can travel more easily to – or are permanently based in – cities like Peshawar or Quetta, to verify information.

Under these new guidelines, any contributor, including freelancers, living outside the three specified cities would require NOC permissions to cover a story.

"These are ridiculous restrictions and are totally unacceptable," said Zaffar Abbas, editor of Dawn newspaper. "I have worked as a journalist in this country for over 40 years and have reported during the times of two military rulers and a number of autocratic civilian rules, but have never seen the imposition of such restrictions.

“To ask journalists to get an NOC for travelling outside the three major cities not just undermines freedom of movement but also freedom of the press.”

The government says this is not a blanket restriction on the movement of individuals.

The guidelines also specify that journalists can lose their accreditation for "acts against ideology, sovereignty, security or public order of Pakistan". Khokhar describes this as "vague" and raises questions about how it might be interpreted.

But the government says any system of accreditation must retain the ability to act including when "the holder is involved in conduct affecting national security or public order".

There is no statutory framework to support the guidelines, according to Salhuddin Ahmed, a Supreme Court lawyer.

"These 'guidelines' are merely an executive order and lack any legal backing from statute," Ahmed says.

"They refer to the rules of business; those rules are only meant to regulate the internal functioning of government, not create legal obligations on others.

“Quite clearly, these guidelines are a hastily and ill-thought-out attempt to further curb independent reporting in Pakistan.”

According to the government, the guidelines are used under rules of business and that as the Information Ministry's External Publicity wing are responsible for foreign media, the guidelines regulate the ministry's administrative relationship with foreign media.

A group of international journalists and the president of Pakistan's Federal Union of Journalists are trying to arrange a meeting with the information minister to raise their concerns.

The authorities seem particularly concerned about reporting from certain locations.

Foreign media organisations received a WhatsApp message on Monday evening from the External Publicity wing, saying that anyone in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PAK) must "return back IMMEDIATELY" and apply for an NOC.

The area has seen two months of violent clashes between protesters and security officials, with dozens killed. Local elections are under way, which protesters are boycotting. Internet access restrictions have made it hard to verify information.

This ministry's message was sent after several international news outlets, including the BBC, published reports from inside PAK.

Al Jazeera's website was inaccessible inside Pakistan earlier this week after their correspondent's report from the regional capital was deemed "yellow journalism" (a term for sensationalised reporting) by the Pakistan ministry of information. A ban on the news site has not been publicly announced.

Kashmir is one of the most disputed and militarised areas in the world, with India and Pakistan both claiming the whole territory, but only controlling parts of it.

Coverage of unrest in PAK is politically sensitive.

Two Pakistani journalists told the BBC that they had been warned to stay away from the topic by their editors.

Source: BBC

– Agencies