Al Jazeera has been reportedly blocked in Pakistan following the publication of a series of reports alleging that Islamabad has been cracking down on anti-government and election related protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
The government has yet to declare the closure of the broadcaster, although various users in Pakistan made a statement to this effect on social media.
In the wake of the reports, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting contended that the international news media is “distorting the picture of the elections in the region. The ministry’s statement on X read: “Al Jazeera used ‘selective reporting’ and ‘handpicked polling stations’ to misrepresent the electoral process and manipulated the results.
The ministry argued that the broadcaster had carefully set its timing and chosen participants to give the impression of a narrative presented to vouch for elections held in Pakistan as a part of its Kashmir region, called “Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)”.
Islamabad also cited “yellow journalism” by the media organisation, claiming its news reports had targeted the credibility of the electoral process and aimed at swaying public opinion.
The reports were targeting to deny the elections an international legitimacy while ignoring the criticism by the government from the people that “anarchy and coercion” prevailed,” the statement said.
Al Jazeera and the Pakistani authorities have neither made an official statement that the broadcast has been banned from the internet to users in Pakistan nor said that it has been vetoed to Pakistani media owners. The reports, however, have raised concerns over freedom of the press and availability of media in Pakistan at politically sensitive times.