What Happened : Reporters Without Borders, a press watchdog group, listed 37 world leaders as media “predators” who “crack down massively” on press freedom, including Imran Khan and Narendra Modi.
Once upon a time @ImranKhanPTI was a champion of #PressFreedom now @RSF_inter declared him a threat for the free media. Pakistan lost 6 points on world press freedom index in last 3 years. Pakistan came down from number 139 to 145. https://t.co/W5LtFbj0Nf
— Hamid Mir (@HamidMirPAK) July 5, 2021
Details : Reporters Without Borders, also known as Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), on its official website has published “a gallery of grim portraits, those of 37 heads of state or government who launched a crackdown massively on press freedom” under the caption “RSF’s 2021: Press freedom predators gallery – old tyrants, two women and a European.” The list included the names of leaders that the group claims “trample on press freedom,” by heightened censorship in which they incarcerate journalists arbitrarily or by inciting violence against them. They said Imran Khan’s repressive methods include “military with dictatorial tendencies.” Apparently Khan’s favorite targets are those who call him out and criticize any of his work. To his criticizers, RSF warned to “watch out.”
“Cases of brazen censorship are legion since Khan became prime minister. Newspaper distribution has been interrupted, media outlets have been threatened with the withdrawal of advertising and TV channel signals have been jammed. Journalists who cross the red lines have been threatened, abducted and tortured. In the shadows, behind Khan in the limelight, Pakistan is reliving some of the worst moments of its past military dictatorships.”
“While troll armies harass and vilify all journalists and bloggers who dare express criticism, automatically labelling them as anti-Pakistan, anti-military and… anti-Khan,” the report stated. They further highlighted how journalists and bloggers have been the targets of kidnappings and death threats since Khan became prime minister. “The report said the PTI government was worse than military dictatorships in Pakistan when it comes to press freedom. The Human Rights Watch, Pakistan Press Freedom Report, and Freedom Network Report had already declared the Imran government as the worst media gagging administration in the country’s history,” said Maryam Aurangzed regarding the released report. Click here for more Propergaanda.