{"id":54062,"date":"2025-10-29T11:03:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T11:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/?p=54062"},"modified":"2025-10-29T11:03:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T11:03:24","slug":"inside-the-new-pemra-can-pakistan-regulate-truth-in-the-age-of-hyper-information","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/inside-the-new-pemra-can-pakistan-regulate-truth-in-the-age-of-hyper-information\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the New PEMRA: Can Pakistan Regulate Truth in the Age of Hyper-Information?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By Imran Ghaznavi<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It began quietly, with a few lines slipped into an amendment bill in 2023. But those few lines may come to define the next decade of Pakistan\u2019s media story. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) was given sharper teeth, a wider reach, and a new vocabulary for an old problem: misinformation.<\/p>\n

Inside Parliament, the discussion was brief. Outside, the noise was loud. Media owners feared censorship. Lawmakers called for \u201cresponsible journalism.\u201d Civil society worried about \u201cinformation control.\u201d Yet behind the debate, a deeper shift was taking shape, one that mirrors the world\u2019s uneasy struggle to regulate truth in a digital age.<\/p>\n

The Law That Rewired the Regulator<\/strong><\/p>\n

For two decades, PEMRA was a gatekeeper. It licensed channels, issued warnings, imposed fines. Its founding law from 2002 was written for a simpler time satellite dishes, not smartphones; broadcasters, not bloggers. Then came the 2023 amendments.<\/p>\n

For the first time, Pakistani law defined\u00a0misinformation<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0disinformation<\/em>. It raised penalties for broadcasting false or harmful content. It promised protection for journalists\u2019 salaries and working conditions. And it created stricter checks before any channel could be taken off air.<\/p>\n

Inside PEMRA headquarters, the message was clear: this was not business as usual. The regulator was being asked to do something regulators everywhere are struggling with, manage a borderless, algorithm-driven information space without crushing free speech.<\/p>\n

In theory, this was reform. In practice, it was the start of a new battle i.e. one between authority and autonomy, regulation and trust.<\/p>\n

The New Reality<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Pakistan\u2019s sprawling media landscape, the old boundaries are gone. A talk show clip posted on YouTube reaches more viewers than its live broadcast. Anonymous Twitter accounts can move markets, topple reputations, or spin conspiracies within hours.<\/p>\n

And yet, amid all this chaos, viewers still expect PEMRA to act. To draw the line between fair debate and fabrication. Between criticism and incitement. Between expression and exploitation.<\/p>\n

A senior regulatory expert put it this way:\u00a0\u201cThey can\u2019t regulate speed with a law written for paper.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0He wasn\u2019t being poetic. He was being honest.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where the 2023 amendments tried to help expanding PEMRA\u2019s legal reach into digital territory, aligning it with global practices seen in the UK\u2019s Ofcom or Singapore\u2019s Infocomm Media Development Authority.<\/p>\n

But the challenge runs deeper than new powers. It\u2019s about how those powers are used and how much trust the industry, the journalists, and the public have in the regulator\u2019s fairness.<\/p>\n

PEMRA Law 2002 Amended – Accuracy, Fairness, Accountability Stressed – Fine from Million to 10 Million on Violation<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n