Pakistani journalists 'targeted' by cyber law: Report

At least 23 Pakistani journalists have been targeted under the country's draconian cyber-crime law in the last two years, a media watchdog has said.

Pakistan-based group, Freedom Network, in its report established a "chilling pattern" of using the threat of legal action to silence dissent, Al Jazeera reported.

As per the report, the crimes Pakistani journalists were charged with included "bringing the armed forces into disrepute", "bringing the judiciary into disrepute" and "bringing the intelligence agencies into disrepute". In at least one case, the journalist was accused of committing "treason".

The cases under the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA, also referred to as the country's cyber-crime law) were often compounded with allegations under the penal code, with criminal cases registered against 13 of the 23 journalists.

The Doha-based news publication said that at least nine journalists were arrested in connection with those inquiries, with six forced to obtain bail after spending up to 60 days in jail while under investigation.

The report said that the human rights groups and journalists have warned that journalists are facing increased strictures from the authorities not to cover certain topics, particularly allegations of the military's increasing role in governance and politics.

A 2019 Al Jazeera investigation documented the forms of coercion used to enforce the new code of censorship. Increasingly, the government has used the cyber-crime law as a means of targeting journalists, a 2020 Al Jazeera report found.

France-based International media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders (known by its French acronym RSF) said that acts of "brazen censorship" and the military's role influence over the government have "increased dramatically" since Imran Khan came to power.

"After reining in the traditional media, the [military and intelligence services] has set about purging the Internet and social media of content not to its liking," Al Jazeera quoted RSF's statement.

It further stated that Pakistan ranked 145 out of 180 countries in RSF's World Press Freedom Index 2021.

( With inputs from ANI )