Due to increased government blocking of political, social, and cultural websites, beefed-up operationalization of an undeclared policy of access limitations, and increased misinformation and weaponization of the cybercrime law as a tool, Internet freedom in Pakistan deteriorated drastically in 2020.
This is the crux of the findings of the Institute for Research, Advocacy, and Development’s “Annual Pakistan Media Legal Review 2020” report, which was launched on May 3 to commemorate World Press Freedom Day.
According to the report “Growing fear and hate in Pakistani online civic spaces,” “the combined impact of these outcomes was that the already unfriendly legal system regulating freedom of speech, right to information, and digital rights in Pakistan deteriorated considerably during 2020.”
The media legal review 2020 has been dedicated to the late I. A. Rehman, as per IRADA Executive Director Mohammad Aftab Alam.
