government announced that the terrorism wing of the country’s FIA would be tasked
with hunting down the ‘‘antidemocratic’’ forces that were circulating YouTube videos
and text messages aimed at discrediting the ruling party’s politicians. 34
On September 2, 2006, the MoIT announced the creation of a committee to monitor
the content of offensive Web sites. Composed of representatives from the MoIT, the
PTA, the Ministry of the Interior, and the cabinet, as well as members of security
agencies, and presided over by the Secretary of the MoIT, the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Evaluation of Websites (IMC) was tasked with examining and blocking
Web sites containing blasphemous, pornographic, or anti-state material. 35 To address
the grievances of Internet users with this censorship body, the government set up the
Deregulation Facilitation Unit to deal with users’ complaints. 36
Much of the episodic filtering in Pakistan has been ordered in reaction to ‘‘blasphemous’’ content. On February 28, 2006, the PTCL issued a blocking directive banning a
dozen URLs posting controversial Danish cartoons depicting images of the Prophet
Muhammad. 37 Within two weeks in March, in a series of escalating instructions, the
Supreme Court directed the government to block all Web sites displaying the cartoons,
to explain why they had not been blocked earlier, to block all blasphemous content,
and to determine how access to such content could be denied on the Internet worldwide. 38 The Supreme Court also ordered police to register cases of publishing or posting the blasphemous images under Article 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, where
blasphemy or defamation of the Prophet Muhammad is punishable by death. 39
President Musharraf’s crackdowns on the media included content prohibitions and
enhanced government discretion as to licensing requirements in order to cultivate
self-censorship. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) was
established when Musharraf allowed for the creation of privately owned, independent
broadcast media in 2002. One of its first acts was to lay out the regulatory framework
that would ultimately support Musharraf’s drive to control and restrict independent
journalism. This framework instructed that in order to obtain a broadcast license,
media outlets were required to preserve the sovereignty, security, integrity, values, and
constitutional principles of public policy of Pakistan. 40 Article 27 of the 2002 ordinance also directly prohibited the broadcast or distribution of any content ‘‘against
the ideology of Pakistan,’’ as well as programming that ‘‘is likely to create hatred
among the people, is prejudicial to the maintenance of law and order, is likely to
disturb public peace and tranquility, endangers national security or is pornographic,
obscene or vulgar or is offensive to the commonly accepted standards of decency.’’ 41
Upon declaring a state of emergency in 2007, Musharraf further amended PEMRA’s
charter to prohibit programming that ‘‘defames or brings into ridicule the head of
state, or members of the armed forces, or executive, legislative or judicial organ of the
state,’’ 42 as well as content ‘‘against the ideology, sovereignty, integrity or security of
Pakistan
493
with hunting down the ‘‘antidemocratic’’ forces that were circulating YouTube videos
and text messages aimed at discrediting the ruling party’s politicians. 34
On September 2, 2006, the MoIT announced the creation of a committee to monitor
the content of offensive Web sites. Composed of representatives from the MoIT, the
PTA, the Ministry of the Interior, and the cabinet, as well as members of security
agencies, and presided over by the Secretary of the MoIT, the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Evaluation of Websites (IMC) was tasked with examining and blocking
Web sites containing blasphemous, pornographic, or anti-state material. 35 To address
the grievances of Internet users with this censorship body, the government set up the
Deregulation Facilitation Unit to deal with users’ complaints. 36
Much of the episodic filtering in Pakistan has been ordered in reaction to ‘‘blasphemous’’ content. On February 28, 2006, the PTCL issued a blocking directive banning a
dozen URLs posting controversial Danish cartoons depicting images of the Prophet
Muhammad. 37 Within two weeks in March, in a series of escalating instructions, the
Supreme Court directed the government to block all Web sites displaying the cartoons,
to explain why they had not been blocked earlier, to block all blasphemous content,
and to determine how access to such content could be denied on the Internet worldwide. 38 The Supreme Court also ordered police to register cases of publishing or posting the blasphemous images under Article 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, where
blasphemy or defamation of the Prophet Muhammad is punishable by death. 39
President Musharraf’s crackdowns on the media included content prohibitions and
enhanced government discretion as to licensing requirements in order to cultivate
self-censorship. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) was
established when Musharraf allowed for the creation of privately owned, independent
broadcast media in 2002. One of its first acts was to lay out the regulatory framework
that would ultimately support Musharraf’s drive to control and restrict independent
journalism. This framework instructed that in order to obtain a broadcast license,
media outlets were required to preserve the sovereignty, security, integrity, values, and
constitutional principles of public policy of Pakistan. 40 Article 27 of the 2002 ordinance also directly prohibited the broadcast or distribution of any content ‘‘against
the ideology of Pakistan,’’ as well as programming that ‘‘is likely to create hatred
among the people, is prejudicial to the maintenance of law and order, is likely to
disturb public peace and tranquility, endangers national security or is pornographic,
obscene or vulgar or is offensive to the commonly accepted standards of decency.’’ 41
Upon declaring a state of emergency in 2007, Musharraf further amended PEMRA’s
charter to prohibit programming that ‘‘defames or brings into ridicule the head of
state, or members of the armed forces, or executive, legislative or judicial organ of the
state,’’ 42 as well as content ‘‘against the ideology, sovereignty, integrity or security of
Pakistan
493