Pakistan has restricted access to the Qatar-based international news broadcaster Al Jazeera following a series of investigative reports detailing Islamabad’s heavy-handed response to anti-government demonstrations and election-related protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the media suggests.
While Islamabad has not formally declared a statutory ban, users across Pakistan reported that Al Jazeera’s English-language news portal became inaccessible, sparking widespread concerns over growing state censorship.
Pakistan's Information & Broadcasting (I&B) ministry, in a statement posted on its X handle, cited, "We have taken note of Al Jazeera's selective reporting from handpicked polling stations in Muzaffarabad today. Through carefully chosen timings and scripted statements from selected individuals, the channel has sought to misrepresent the AJK elections and the voting process.”
"Such yellow journalism only confirms the agenda of external actors with vested interests who are attempting to delegitimise this electoral exercise and undermine the popular will of the people of Muzaffarabad and AJK, clearly demonstrated today in their rejection of anarchy and coercion," it said.
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