The Lahore High Court has directed the government to lift its ban on Facebook saying there should be free access to information, provided no one hurt religious sentiments of others, according to a report in Pakistan's Daily Times .
A Pakistani version of Newsweek is to hit the shelves from September this year. Newsweek Pakistan will cover international and local news, and will be produced under licence with local media company AG productions. It marks the publication's eighth local edition and begins with a print run of 30,000 copies, four times more than its current circulation in the country.
Following a week of protests from journalists, the public and opposition parties, President Musharraf of Pakistan backed down yesterday over curbs on media coverage of opposition protests. As we discussed last week, Musharraf introduced emergency legislation in an attempt to contain the political crisis surrounding the suspended chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
The controversial regulation was withdrawn after broadcasters agreed to adopt a code of conduct to avoid any abuse of media freedom. Now that the restrictions have been removed, TV channels have resumed their regular programming.
Commenting on the decision, Talat Hussain, director of independent network Aaj News, said: 'The government realised that action against the media further fuelled the public outrage against it.'
In a move against growing calls for a return to democracy, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf took several TV stations off the air at the weekend. He also introduced emergency legislation, which provides for fines of up to £85,000 and the suspension of a station's licence if it is deemed to have broken the law.
The government is angry at what it sees as 'sensationalist' coverage of the crisis surrounding Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who was recently suspended from his position as chief justice. Live coverage of rallies for Mr Chaudhry have been banned.
Geo News, Pakistan's largest channel, was taken off air on Sunday for broadcasting a popular current affairs show. According to the Guardian, the network had received a letter warning it not to broadcast programmes that promote an 'anti-state attitude' or 'cast aspersions against the judiciary and the integrity of the armed forces'.
Geo's president, Imran Aslam, said: 'We had an interview with Imran Khan followed by a discussion about the military in politics. Suddenly it all went blank.'
Defending the move, information minister, Tariq Azim, said:
We have given unprecendented freedom to the press, unlimited freedom. But the only thing that is missing is balance. They have no sense of responsibility.
Mr Azim is hoping to meet with the channels today to bring the confrontation to an end.
