ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting on Friday asked the concerned ministry to propose amendments to the Right to Information Act, 2017 after seeking feedback from stakeholders.
Committee Chairman Syed Ali Zafar, who presided over the meeting here, gave this direction after a detailed discussion on the public petition sent by the Senate Chairman regarding the right of appeal under the Access to Information Act.
Emphasizing that transparency is essential to ensure media freedom, he directed all media houses to avoid political content in the next meeting of the committee, especially the founding chairman of his party, Imran Khan. or exist to explain the reasons behind the censorship of statements about them.
Zafar said the media should not be subject to arbitrary censorship, especially when it includes speeches by major political leaders, who represent a significant section of the electorate. The PTI senator stressed that if PEMRA is not responsible for censorship, it must provide clear and verifiable information about who is behind the restrictions.
He pointed out that blocking opposition speech, whether on private media channels or on state-run institutions like PTV, raises fundamental questions about the state’s commitment to democratic principles, particularly freedom of expression.
Ali Zafar advocated for a transparent and open dialogue between media houses and PEMRA to address growing concerns over media censorship in Pakistan. He said that it is important that PEMRA and the government work according to the principles of democracy and media freedom.
Secretary Information and Managing Director PTV Ambrin John explained to the forum that the issue was due to a technical glitch. The committee directed the authorities concerned to ensure that such technical issues do not recur in future.
Senator Sarmad Ali of the People’s Party expressed his regret over the running of unlicensed channels in the country and said, “What is Pemra doing?” PEMRA officials said that legal action is being taken against the religious channels in the courts. He further informed the Standing Committee that decisions are awaited from the courts against such religious channels of religious parties.
“Then we should also fear that it will be shoved down our throats as a religious matter,” the lawmaker said.
Regarding the vacant posts in the authority, he said that if PEMRA will keep the posts of complaints cell vacant for two years, how will the complaints be redressed.
In response to this, Chairman Pemra Saleem Baig said that the recruitment process for the vacant posts is going on and it is hoped that it will be completed next month. He explained that 85 TV channels have been licensed, while 35 foreign channels have been given landing rights.
DG Operations PEMRA said the PEMRA Act was enacted in 2002 under which licenses were granted to private channels and the authority could take legal action if employees of TV channels did not receive salaries and dues. He said that earlier the law did not include false information or false information but in 2023, false information and false information were included in the law. He said that 124 complaints of misinformation and misinformation were received, while 45 applications were still pending.
Senator Aoun Abbas said that the government is claiming that inflation has reduced, but what action will be taken if evidence is presented on the part of the information minister on this false information.
The meeting was attended by Senators Pervez Rasheed, Sarmad Ali, John Muhammad and Aoon Abbas, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Anbreen John, PEMRA Chairman Muhammad Saleem Baig, DG (IP) Ashiq Hussain, Joint Secretary Information and Broadcasting and others.