Digital solution for media safety initiated

PESHAWAR: A digital solution for media safety has been initiated with the name of ‘Muhafiz’ by Media Matters for Democracy (MMfD) in collaboration with Code for Pakistan, Peshawar Press Club and National Press Club, Islamabad.
Briefing journalists at the Peshawar Press Club on Thursday, MMfD Executive Director Asad Baig said that hopefully Muhafiz would be able to fill a gap in media safety initiatives by introducing an easy, effective and secure way to document threats, threat actors and trends affecting media safety in Pakistan.
He said that they had collaborated with Code for Pakistan for the development of this tool. The code would be kept as opened source to allow safety audits from international digital safety groups.The MMfD head said through this digital tool, awareness would be raised among relevant institutions working for journalists’ safety and the police and unions of the journalists.
MMfD Project Manager Sara Ali said that Pakistan had become one of the dangerous countries for journalists and they believed that the digital tool would create an enabling environment for free media to thrive in Pakistan as outlined in the UN Plan of Action on the safety of journalists and the issue of impunity. On the occasion, Peshawar Press Club President Syed Bukhar Shah Bacha said that they supported the much-needed initiative and it should have been launched much earlier.