Media professionals, artists, academicians, and human rights defenders from across Pakistan have warned that the country is experiencing one of the gravest crises for freedom of expression in recent decades, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). The warning emerged from a roundtable convened by the HRCP with the support of the European Union (EU) in Islamabad on 20 August.

Key Concerns Raised at the Roundtable

Participants flagged the unchecked abuse of laws such as Pakistan's Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), alongside expanding censorship, surveillance, and arbitrary restrictions on online expression. They also highlighted shrinking access to information, the intimidation of journalists, and mounting pressure on independent, regional, and digital media outlets across the country.

Critically, participants stressed that these curbs no longer affect journalists alone. Ordinary citizens exercising their constitutional right to free expression are increasingly subjected to the same restrictions, broadening the scope of the crisis beyond the press.

A National Alliance in the Making

A significant outcome of the roundtable was the agreement among participants to establish a broad national alliance to, in the HRCP's words, 'confront the escalating assault on freedom of expression.' The proposed alliance would bring together journalists' unions, press clubs, freelance and digital journalists, lawyers, artists, civil society organisations, and other democratic actors.

The HRCP stated that the alliance would 'coordinate advocacy, strategic litigation, documentation, rapid-response mechanisms and public mobilisation in defence of freedom of expression across Pakistan.' Participants also agreed on a common reform agenda, calling for the repeal or amendment of laws that criminalise dissent, restrict online speech, or enable censorship.

Demands: Accountability and Editorial Independence

Beyond legal reform, the roundtable issued a call to end impunity for attacks, enforced disappearances, killings, threats, and harassment of journalists — a pattern that rights groups say has gone largely unpunished. Participants also demanded stronger safeguards to protect editorial independence from political, commercial, and institutional interference.

The meeting underscored the need to create safer and more equitable spaces for women journalists, while ensuring equal protections for freelance and digital media practitioners. Journalists' unions and press clubs were urged to modernise their roles by providing legal assistance, collective representation, and emergency safety support. Media organisations were called upon to guarantee fair wages, written contracts, insurance coverage, and safe working conditions.

Foreign Media Guidelines Draw International Criticism

The roundtable comes amid fresh controversy over Pakistan's newly implemented Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines 2026, which several media bodies have criticised as a 'direct assault on press freedom.' The guidelines require all foreign journalists to secure a no-objection certificate (NOC) from Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MOIB) before travelling to any city outside Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi for news reporting.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged the Pakistani government to withdraw the guidelines. Waliullah Rahmani, CPJ's Afghanistan and Pakistan Representative, said: 'The Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines open the door for Pakistani authorities to further restrict international media coverage, prevent journalists from reporting freely outside Pakistan's three main cities, and risk exposing them to administrative retaliation.' Rahmani described the guidelines as yet another 'appalling blow to press freedom in Pakistan, where journalists are already facing an intense crackdown' — particularly those covering unrest in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

With a national alliance now being mobilised and international pressure mounting, the coming weeks will test whether Pakistan's government responds to calls for reform or entrenches its current posture on media regulation.