Sindh Provisional Assembly passes journalists protection bill
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The Sindh Assembly passed a landmark law on Friday to promote, protect and ensure the independence, impartiality, safety and freedom of expression for journalists and other media practitioners.
Pakistan ranks 145 out of 180 countries on the media rights watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2021 World Press Freedom Index. Reports of journalists being intimidated, threatened, beaten, abducted, harassed or even killed are not uncommon in the country, which stands as the fifth most dangerous place for the profession, according to the International Federation of Journalists.
In Sindh alone, at least one journalist has been killed in the current year. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, at least two were picked up and then released and one killed in 2020. At least 25 FIRs have reportedly been lodged against various journalists in Sukkur al
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The Sindh Assembly passed a landmark law on Friday to promote, protect and ensure the independence, impartiality, safety and freedom of expression for journalists
Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) has welcomed the presentation of the landmark
Sindh Protection of Journalists and Other Media Protection Bill 2021 in the provincial assembly of Sindh. PPF also welcomed that a similar bill has also been presented in Pakistan’s National Assembly where it has been sent to the Human Rights Committee for consideration.
The bill presented in Sindh envisages the creation of a of a robust, inclusive and autonomous
Commission on Safety of Journalists and Other Media Professionals comprising government duty bearers as well as media stakeholders including Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), All Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS), Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA), Sindh Commission on Information Commission and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
KARACHI: The journalists and other media practitioners shall have protection against disclosure of professional sources of information under The Sindh Protection of Journalists and other Media Practitioners Bill 2021 that also bars government officials and institutions from forcing them to disclose the identity of their professional sources.
According to the draft of the new media law, the protected information gathered by journalists and other media practitioners includes, but is not limited to, information gathered in the field through interviews or personal observations, telephone conversations, and information gathered online or through digital platforms.
Besides, the draft bill says that no journalist or other media person shall be subjected to any unlawful or arbitrary restrictions on their ability to perform their work independently, and without undue interference.