Senate panel asks ministry to propose amendments to Information Act, 2017

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting Friday called upon the ministry concerned to propose amendments to the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017 after having taken input from the stakeholders.

The committee chairman, Syed Ali Zafar, who presided over the meeting here, gave this direction after the members concluded a detailed discussion on the public petition referred by the Senate chairman regarding the right to appeal under the Access to Information Act.

He stressed that transparency was crucial for ensuring media freedom, directing all media houses to be present in the next meeting of the committee to clarify the reasons behind the censorship of political content, particularly statements of or about his party founder chairman Imran Khan.

Zafar contended that the media should not be subjected to the arbitrary censorship, especially when it involved speeches from major political leaders, representing a significant portion of the electorate. The PTI senator emphasized that if the Pemra was not responsible for the censorship, then it must provide clear and verifiable information about who was behind the restrictions.

Blocking of opposition speeches, whether on private media channels or state-owned outlets like PTV, he pointed out, raised fundamental questions about the state’s commitment to democratic principles, particularly freedom of speech.

Ali Zafar advocated a transparent, open dialogue between the media houses and Pemra to address the growing concerns over the media censorship in Pakistan. He was of the view that it was essential that the Pemra and the government acted in accordance with the principles of democracy and media freedom.

Secretary Information and Managing Director PTV Ambreen Jan explained to the forum that this issue may have occurred due to a technical glitch. The committee directed the authorities concerned to make sure that such technical issues never happen again in future.

PPP Senator Sarmad Ali regretted that unlicensed channels were running in the country and asked what was Pemra doing. The Pemra officials said legal action was being taken against the religious channels in the courts. They further informed the standing committee that decisions were being awaited from the courts against such religious channels of religious parties.

“Then we should also be afraid that it would be declared a religious matter and shoved down our throats,” the legislator remarked.

Concerning the vacant posts in the authority, he maintained that if the Pemra kept the posts of complaints cell vacant for two years, then how it will resolve the complaints.

In response, Chairman Pemra Saleem Baig said the process of recruitment for vacant posts was ongoing and hopefully it would be completed next month. He explained that 85 TV channels had been given licenses, while 35 foreign channels had been given the landing rights.

DG Operations Pemra said the Pemra Act was made in 2002, under which licenses were given to private channels and that the authority could take legal action if the employees of TV channels did not receive salaries and arrears. He said earlier the law did not include misinformation or disinformation, but in 2023, misinformation and disinformation were included in the law. He said 124 complaints of disinformation and misinformation were received, while 45 applications were still pending.

Senator Aon Abbas said the government was claiming that inflation had decreased but what action would be taken if he presented evidence that this was disinformation by the information minister.

The meeting was attended by Senators Pervaiz Rasheed, Sarmad Ali, Jan Muhammad and Aon Abbas, Secretary Information and Broadcasting Ambreen Jan, Chairman PEMRA Muhammad Saleem Baig, DG (IP) Ashique Hussain, Joint Secretary M/o Information and Broadcasting and others.