Pakistan Imposes New Curbs on Foreign Media Reporting

Pakistani authorities have introduced sweeping new media restrictions requiring all foreign journalists and contributors — including Pakistani nationals working for international outlets — to obtain government No Objection Certificates (NOCs) before reporting outside Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore.

What the new guidelines say

The rules, called the "Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines, 2026," were issued on Sunday. They do not specify how long the NOC process may take, leaving journalists potentially waiting months or receiving no answer at all — severely curtailing real-time coverage of breaking news across most of Pakistan's 240 million people.

• Freelancers and permanent correspondents outside the three cities both require NOCs
• Journalists can lose accreditation for "acts against ideology, sovereignty, security or public order"
• No statutory legal framework underpins the guidelines — they are described as an executive order
• Pakistan ranks 153 out of 180 on the World Press Freedom Index

Critics condemn the restrictions

"These guidelines are tantamount to choking international media in an increasingly shrinking space." — Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, political commentator

Zaffar Abbas, editor of Dawn newspaper and a journalist with over 40 years of experience, called the rules "ridiculous restrictions" that undermine freedom of movement and the press. Supreme Court lawyer Salhuddin Ahmed said the guidelines are "a hastily and ill-thought-out attempt to further curb independent reporting," lacking any legal backing from statute.

Pakistan-administered Kashmir at the root

The restrictions follow intensive international media coverage of Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PAK), where deadly protests have erupted over two months, dozens have been killed, and local elections are under way amid internet blackouts. Several outlets, including the BBC, published reports from inside the region. Al Jazeera's website was subsequently blocked after its coverage was labelled "yellow journalism" by the information ministry. The government says the guidelines are not a blanket restriction, but an administrative mechanism to verify and coordinate foreign media access.