Pakistan has imposed sweeping restrictions on international media, requiring journalists to obtain permission to report anywhere in the country except Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. The rules, introduced after international outlets reported on deadly protests in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, have drawn strong criticism from journalists and press freedom advocates.

Nasir Zaidi, a former secretary-general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and a senior journalist, denounced the measures. 

“For decades, various governments have always tried to kill the news and they failed because of the reporting of international media, and now it came up with these repressive rules to curb the movement of journalists. 

“They don’t want the truth to be reported,” he said.

Authorities deny the measures restrict media freedom, but journalists warn that mandatory accreditation and the threat of penalties for reporting deemed against Pakistan’s “ideology, sovereignty, security or public order” further undermine press freedom.

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