SAFMA opposes plan to block internet

LAHORE: South Asia Free Media Association (Safma) and Media Commission-Pakistan have condemned the government plans to introduce Internet blocking and filtering system and a “vague” set of rules for the electronic media “as an attempt to pressure people’s right to information”.
“Media censorship is not new in Pakistan, where military dictators come and go. But springing of newly proposed rules to ban TV programming deemed “against the [vaguely defined] national interest” or to block internet sites from a civilian government comes as a shock,” said SAFMA Secretary General Imtiaz Alam and Media Commission-Pakistan President M Ziauddin.
While agreeing that the raucous TV news industry should regulate itself, the media rights campaigners said the government should not take any measures which would translate into attempts to intimidate the media or impose censorship.