Absurd censorship: ARY News faces public outcry for blurring Imran Khan

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 8 July 2023

ARY News has been criticized for blurring the image of Imran Khan during a meeting with IMF officials. The decision sparked a strong reaction on social media, with calls for a boycott and accusations of absurd censorship.

Summary

ISLAMABAD—ARY News has been harshly criticized on social media for blurring the picture of former Prime Minister Imran Khan during his meeting with an International Monetary Fund (IMF) representative.

IMF officials on Friday met with leading political parties ahead of its board meeting next week in which the approval for the $3 billion Standby Agreement with Pakistan is expected to be approved.

The IMF teach reached Zaman Park in the evening, where along with the PTI chairman, former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was also present. Some PTI leaders joined the meeting online.

However, when ARY News aired the news, bizarrely, it decided to blur the former prime minister. One could see his feet but not his face.

Social media was quick to notice and roundly condemned the channel. Many people commenting on Twitter asked to boycott ARY News. Interestingly, a twitterati uploaded a blurred picture of the former prime minister bowling in a test match, saying, “Imran Khan bowling ARY News”. Some termed the blurring of Imran Khan as a “ridiculous level of censorship.”