Amid massive spike, Pakistan bans TV coverage of terror attacks

Islamabad: Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has banned TV channels across the country from covering terror attacks as it “creates panic and unwarranted chaos among the viewers not only in the country but also Pakistanis living abroad.”

The latest order by Pakistan’s electronic media regulatory body comes in continuation to the earlier ones asking TV channels to adhere to the provisions of the PEMRA Electronic Media Code of Conduct 2015, Geo News reported.

“It has been observed with grave concern that despite repeated directives satellite TV channels are unable to comply with provisions of Electronic Media Code of Conduct-2015 in letter and spirit,” read a notification by the authority on Monday.

What PEMRA said?

PEMRA stated in the notification that channels often resort to marathon broadcasts after explosions or attacks by “miscreants” in order to “take lead” and “credit” of breaking the news first and “airing live images of the crime scene”.

“Satellite TV channels and their staff is found ambivalent of not only their own security but also create hurdles in rescue as well as combat operations,” PEMRA stated.

Information shared on TV channels in such a situation is “unverified, speculative without consulting security agencies present on the spot… Such reporting hence creates panic and unwarranted chaos among the viewers not only in the country but also Pakistanis living abroad,” it added.

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PEMRA further noted that reporting of terror attacks allows terrorists to use media as “forum of political advertising” and serves their ideological purposes by “publicising their campaign”.

“Moreover, media coverage of such incidents also gives terrorists an organisational advantage by allowing a specific group to exhibit its strength and audaciousness in comparison with its rivals,” it stated.

Terror Attacks in Pakistan

The order by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority comes amid spike in terror activities across the country. The Shehbaz Sharif-led nation has been gripped by a spate of terror attacks for the past few months.

Recently, terrorists attacked a police office in Karachi during which four people including security officials were killed and three terrorists were neutralised.

This came few weeks after the deadly Peshawar attack, which claimed the lives of dozens of people and injured over 150 on January 30.

142 terrorists killed in three months

The Pakistani security forces have killed 142 terrorists in the last three months, ARY News reported.

As many as 6,921 operations were carried out by the security forces across the country in the mentioned period.

A total of 1,960 operations were carried out in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in three months. This included 1,516 area domination operations, 301 intelligence-based operations and 143 area sanitization operations.

On the other hand, 98 terrorists were killed by the Pakistani security forces, while 540 were taken into custody.

In Balochistan, 3,414 operations were carried out, including 2,980 area domination operations, 67 intelligence-based and 367 area sanitization operations.

Around 40 terrorists were killed in Balochistan, while 112 were arrested by the Pakistani security forces.

(With inputs from agencies)

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