{"id":69935,"date":"2026-10-22T18:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T18:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/?p=69935"},"modified":"2026-10-22T18:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T18:09:11","slug":"cpne-press-freedom-committee-expresses-concern-over-use-of-peca-act-harassment-of-journalists-and-performance-of-commission-for-protection-of-journalists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/cpne-press-freedom-committee-expresses-concern-over-use-of-peca-act-harassment-of-journalists-and-performance-of-commission-for-protection-of-journalists\/","title":{"rendered":"CPNE Press Freedom Committee Expresses Concern Over Use of PECA Act, Harassment of Journalists and Performance of Commission for Protection of Journalists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-69937\" src=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/CPNE-PRESS-FREEDOM-PECA.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/CPNE-PRESS-FREEDOM-PECA.jpg 700w, https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/CPNE-PRESS-FREEDOM-PECA-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/CPNE-PRESS-FREEDOM-PECA-696x392.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>Karachi ( Pakistan in the World Report ) &#8211; A meeting of the Press Freedom and Monitoring Committee of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) was held to discuss in detail the challenges facing press freedom across the country, actions under the PECA Act, harassment of journalists, internet shutdowns, non-payment of salaries to media workers and the performance of the Commission for Protection of Journalists.<\/p>\n<p>The meeting was chaired by Committee Chairman Maqsood Yousufi, while Secretary General CPNE Ghulam Nabi Chandio and Finance Secretary Arif Baloch were also present. Dr. Tauseef Ahmed Khan, Nasir Hussain and Maira Imran also participated via video link.<\/p>\n<p>The participants emphasized that all relevant journalistic organizations should unite on a common platform to protect press freedom and resolve issues faced by people associated with media.<\/p>\n<p>Expressing concern over actions, arrests, cases and alleged harassment against journalists under the PECA Act, the participants said that journalists should not be deprived of the right to freedom of expression and access to information while performing their professional duties.<\/p>\n<p>They stressed the need to record incidents related to press freedom with authentic evidence and raise them at relevant forums after proper scrutiny.The issue of performance and autonomy of the Commission for Protection of Journalists established at the federal level also came under discussion.<\/p>\n<p>The participants said that the Commission should be allowed to work independently rather than being run merely as an administrative department so that it can take effective action on threats, complaints and protection issues faced by journalists. In this regard, the need to activate the system for protection of journalists at district and provincial levels and raise issues before relevant authorities was also emphasized.<\/p>\n<p>The meeting also discussed PEMRA&#8217;s instructions regarding activating cyber patrolling units, instructions regarding publication of verified information and obstacles in journalistic activities due to internet shutdown or slow speed. Participants said that availability of reliable communication is essential for transmission of information and performance of journalistic duties.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"TTs4y6rxEc\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/situation-worse-in-pakistan-for-press-freedom-cpne-releases-pakistan-media-freedom-report-2021\/\">Situation Worse in Pakistan for Press Freedom &#8211; CPNE Releases \u201cPakistan Media Freedom Report &#8211; 2021\u201d<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Situation Worse in Pakistan for Press Freedom &#8211; CPNE Releases \u201cPakistan Media Freedom Report &#8211; 2021\u201d&#8221; &#8212; Pakistan In the World\" src=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/situation-worse-in-pakistan-for-press-freedom-cpne-releases-pakistan-media-freedom-report-2021\/embed\/#?secret=el9xFeN0uD#?secret=TTs4y6rxEc\" data-secret=\"TTs4y6rxEc\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>They termed issues of people associated with media transmission and distribution as important and stressed the need to resolve them.Concern was also expressed over non-payment of salaries to media workers and financial difficulties faced by staff after closure of programs.<\/p>\n<p>Participants said that economic issues of journalists and other workers in media organizations should not be ignored and relevant institutions should take effective measures to resolve these matters.<\/p>\n<p>The issue of difficulties faced by Pakistani journalists working for international media due to clearance and other administrative requirements also came under consideration. Participants stressed the need to review concerns arising in this regard and raise relevant matters at appropriate forums.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the meeting, it was agreed that issues and suggestions related to press freedom will be put in writing and presented before the Standing Committee of CPNE. On the basis of these recommendations, a proposal was also made to formulate a future course of action at the national level regarding protection of journalists, freedom of expression and issues faced by journalistic institutions.<\/p>\n<p>The Press Freedom and Monitoring Committee of CPNE emphasized the need to continue liaison and consultation with relevant institutions for effective monitoring and resolution of matters related to press freedom, freedom of expression and protection of journalists.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"hKga5nTYfN\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/pakistan-in-the-world-september-2026\/\">Pakistan in the World \u2013 September 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Pakistan in the World \u2013 September 2026&#8221; &#8212; Pakistan In the World\" src=\"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/pakistan-in-the-world-september-2026\/embed\/#?secret=evaTqx3dig#?secret=hKga5nTYfN\" data-secret=\"hKga5nTYfN\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Karachi ( Pakistan in the World Report ) &#8211; A meeting of the Press Freedom and Monitoring Committee of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) was held to discuss in detail the challenges facing press freedom across the country, actions under the PECA Act, harassment of journalists, internet shutdowns, non-payment of salaries to media [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[1667,966,1037,2447,1268,6657,1060,2016],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69935"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69935"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69939,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69935\/revisions\/69939"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistanintheworld.pk\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}