What happened: On Aug 8, ARY News broadcasts were restricted in a number of regions of Pakistan. According to ARY News, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority ordered the suspension of transmissions in a number of locations, including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Sialkot, Hyderabad, and Faisalabad (PEMRA).
Why it got banned: After the recent martyrdom of Pakistan Army men in the Balochistan helicopter crash, ARY reported that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) began a systematic campaign against the PTI and its leader Imran Khan. This is when the suspension was announced. ARY stated that PMLN media-cell is stirring an agenda that Imran Khan and the PTI were anti-army and that this was the primary priority of the government media cell. Additionally, it was stated on the channel that Imran Khan is being painted as an anti-army politician by the PML-strategic N’s media cell, which was launched on June 27.
Not the first time: After the ARY network failed to provide evidence to support its allegations against Mir Shakilur Rehman, the owner of Geo Television, six of its channels were banned in Britain in 2017. ARY Digital, ARY News, ARY QTV, ARY World News, and ARY Entertainment were among them. Since that time, NVTV, a UK-based news channel, has had the sole right to air ARY News in the UK. Why it matters: Since the past few years, the media laws in Pakistan have been draconian to say the least as senior journalist Kashif Abbasi tweeted: “Phir wohi purana tareeka ke channel bandh kerdo, it 21st century. Wake up.” A Twitter user, Fatima Sajjad said, “ARY News should be investigated for spreading lie but shutting it down is not cool.”