Pakistan Tightens Media Rules as Kashmir Protests Intensify
Pakistan has introduced new restrictions on foreign news organisations, extending government controls for the first time to Pakistani journalists, fixers and other local staff working for international media outlets.
Under the new rules, personnel working for foreign media must register with the government and obtain prior approval before travelling to report outside Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Previously, such movement restrictions were routinely applied mainly to foreign-national journalists.
The guidelines require international media organisations and their Pakistan-based associates to obtain government clearance for reporting assignments outside the country's three major cities.
This potentially affects journalists, freelancers, producers, fixers and other staff working with international news organisations. The Associated Press reported that the measures are contained in the government's Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines 2026.
The restrictions have emerged while protests and election-related unrest continue in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, which India refers to as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Regional elections that began in late July have been accompanied by protests, boycotts and deadly clashes between demonstrators and security forces.
A separate government notice reportedly ordered international news organisations that did not have reporting permission to leave Pakistan-administered Kashmir immediately.
Reuters said it could not establish how many journalists were affected or whether any had subsequently been allowed to return.
Press-freedom advocates have criticised the new regulations.
Human Rights Watch's Patricia Gossman described the measures as an alarming development for press freedom and called for them to be reversed. The Committee to Protect Journalists has separately warned that the guidelines could give civilian and security authorities greater power to restrict independent reporting.
The BBC said it was “extremely concerned” about the restrictions and called for their reversal, while the Financial Times stressed the importance of journalists being able to report freely and independently.
Reuters also said journalists should be free to report news wherever they are.
Pakistani authorities have not publicly explained what specifically prompted the new restrictions.
However, an unnamed government official quoted by Reuters said the rules were not intended to stop criticism of the government or legitimate investigative journalism. Pakistan has historically defended restrictions on journalists' movement in some sensitive areas on security grounds.
Reuters reported that the website of Al Jazeera English became inaccessible to many users in Pakistan during the same week. Al Jazeera had reported from Pakistan-administered Kashmir amid the unrest.
Neither Al Jazeera nor the Pakistani government responded to Reuters' requests for comment on the reported accessibility issue.
Pakistan currently ranks 153rd out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders' 2026 World Press Freedom Index, placing it in the organisation's “very serious” category.
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