DigiMAP wholly rejects proposed PMDA

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 12 August 2021

DigiMAP has firmly opposed the PMDA, labeling it unconstitutional. The organization views it as a move to suppress digital media freedoms in Pakistan.

Summary

ISLAMABAD—The Digital Media Alliance of Pakistan (DigiMAP) has wholly rejected the proposed Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA), terming it unconstitutional and an attempt to muzzle the online freedoms in the country.

The Alliance believes that the proposed authority is the government’s latest effort to impose state control on digital media after subduing legacy media.

The members of the Alliance, in a joint statement, also expressed concern over the government’s Anti-State Trends Deep Analysis Report (2019 to 2021). It paints several journalists, politicians, and academics anti-state and accuses them of treason for voicing their opinion on the government’s policies.

“The report may have raised some valid points but the fact that it was prepared by a government department, running on taxpayers’ money, and several journalists were so callously branded anti-state for their tweets critical of state policies exposes the authoritarian tendencies of this government. It would be suicidal to accept the proposed PMDA when the government has demonstrated that it considers dissent and opposition as treason. It would be tantamount to signing our death warrant,” DigiMAP said.

KEY POINTS:

• DigiMAP rejects PMDA as unconstitutional
• Accuses government of trying to control digital media
• Concerns raised over Anti-State Trends Report
• Labeling dissent as treason is alarming
• DigiMAP warns accepting PMDA may jeopardize freedoms