Journalists in Pakistan hold a banner protesting the new amendment to the PECA law. Photo by: Afzal Butt
Lack of enabling AI and digital rights policies hurting media freedom in Pakistan
Journalists are vulnerable to digital surveillance as the government is yet to act on securing their digital rights.
Pakistan is among the world’s top five digitalised societies with over 170 million internet users. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is also ballooning in both public and private domains but Pakistan’s role as an enabler of AI – particularly in the context of freedom of expression and public interest journalism – is unenvious.
The flip side of the rapid digital transformation of Pakistan is the growing State intolerance for free speech, media freedoms and political pluralisms. The national cybercrime law, Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), was amended in early 2025 to make it easier to jail and fine both journalists and human rights activists in order to persuade media organisations to practise self-censorship.
Pakistan already has the dubious distinction of being one of the most difficult places on the planet to practise journalism – over 180 journalists have been killed in the past 25 years and in only two cases were the killers convicted. High impunity, and growing restrictions through coercive legislations and regulations threaten media practitioners, political activists and human rights activists.
In such a situation, the risk to safety of journalists and activists is heightened due to government inaction regarding digital rights. The national government unveiled a draft ‘National AI Policy’ to the public in 2023 and invited feedback from stakeholders, but no formal consultations with relevant stakeholders (e.g., digital rights groups, women’s rights activists, media industry or citizens) were held. The policy remains unnotified even as media, politics and governance become digital. A Personal Data Protection Bill was introduced in 2023 but also remains unadopted and unrepresentative. These inactions continue to keep in place multiple risks for journalists and activists who remain vulnerable to surveillance and digital ambushes: where public posts are used as evidence of culpability under PECA law without taking into consideration the context of the post.
As reported in the media, there have been growing instances of the State tracking journalists and activists through their devices with the help of AI and other digital tools. According to data collected by IMS’ partner in Pakistan, Freedom Network, fourteen journalists have been slapped with legal cases under PECA and eight have been arrested in the past 12 months.
The absence of a formal AI policy and data protection law means Pakistani media, especially its burgeoning ecosystem of non-legacy independent digital media platforms, remains robbed of optimal enabling conditions to benefit from AI-led shifts in the global media landscape and generally unable to invoke protections. There is little contextual research available about the impact of these AI-related frustrations and how media organisations are losing out on dividends from using cutting-edge technologies for safety and growth.
In 2025, IMS partners in Pakistan will work with dozens of independent digital media outlets to map out AI practices in their newsrooms and determine their needs to help improve in areas such as countering disinformation, scaling up audience engagement through AI chatbots, efficiencies in newsroom workflows and media viability. Appropriate technical assistance to address these needs will be provided to select media beneficiaries.
Through its local partners, IMS supports initiatives in Pakistan seeking to advocate for digital rights and safety of journalists and for dialogue among key stakeholders – including media, civil society and government – for the creation of policies on media laws, freedom of expression, safety and AI which are beneficial for everyone.
