Social-Media
New government regulations may compel YouTubers and Facebook sites to get operating licenses.
Pakistan has banned social media some 8 times throughout its history, holds a long and dark record of curbs on the various forms of media, and has been “continuing to exert arbitrary legal and regulatory restrictions on speech and online content, by ordering bans, suspensions, and advisories against social media applications” according to reports.It now intends to enact new digital media restrictions that might be more draconian than any prior attempt to silence or restrict freedom of speech on social media.The government has proposed establishing the Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA), which will be entirely responsible for print, broadcast, and internet media regulation.
“This will be a new statutory institution established to regulate films, electronic, print and digital media in Pakistan in the age of meta data, digital and social media, and internet-based content and advertisements,” a government proposal explains.
The PMDA would be granted the power to register digital media platforms, monitor and evaluate them, and examine the income produced by online advertising.
According to the plan, “undocumented and unregulated” Internet adverts raise the risk of “revenue leakage and tax evasion.” The body will create rules for internet-based advertising and the money it generates.
Further, if the authority is established, a license will be required to set up a digital media platform, whether it be a YouTube channel for news/vlogs, a Facebook news page, or a website covering news in the future, bringing the government's control over digital media to new heights.
The renowned journalist, Muhammad Malick, lamented in his talk show, “What need is there, for me as a common man or a journalist to obtain a license from the government to start a vlog. A license would mean, it would also be renewed for which my overall conduct will be reviewed and I’ll get the license again only if I have been a good boy.”
