Report: Pakistani Media Instructed Not to Cover Khan's PTI Party

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Facts

• An exclusive Al Jazeera report published on Thursday claims, citing multiple journalists associated with news organizations in Pakistan, that media has been instructed to effectively impose near-blanket censorship on coverage of former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ahead of the Feb. 8 elections.¹
• This comes nearly a month after prominent media bodies in the country alleged growing censorship in the run-up to the national vote, such as bans on reporting political activities and court proceedings.²
• Meanwhile, human rights groups and independent election observers have increasingly cast doubt over whether the upcoming parliamentary elections will be free, fair, or credible amid allegations that Pakistan's powerful military has interfered with the process to crack down on PTI.³
• As the PTI was holding a virtual rally last Saturday, nationwide disruptions to social media platforms were reported. Though Islamabad argues that technical glitches were to blame, the timing has prompted rumors that the establishment is purposefully targeting Khan's party.⁴
• Despite being sentenced to three years in jail and barred from contesting the elections, Khan, who was ousted from office in a no-confidence vote two years ago, continues to be a powerful force dividing the nation. His party, which was recently barred from using its cricket bat symbol, has resorted to artificial intelligence-generated audio simulating his voice to boost its campaign.⁵
• Pakistan's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, however, has denied the allegations of censorship, saying the media is at liberty to give coverage to all political parties, including Khan's party.²

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²Arab News PK, ³Voice of America, ⁴Nikkei Asia and ⁵BBC News.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Firstpost. With two weeks to go for the general elections, it's obvious that this vote will be anything but free and fair as non-elected officials have singled out Imran Khan's PTI for systematic dismemberment. Such a manipulation of the election process can only aggravate the current political turmoil in Pakistan.
• Narrative B, as provided by Pakistan Today. At first, the opposition and international observers said that there would be no elections. Now, they are claiming that the upcoming vote will be one of the most rigged elections ever based on false allegations of censorship. Actually, the media in Pakistan enjoys much more freedom of expression than many outlets in the West.

Predictions