In hindsight, none of the authorities, media watchdogs even media organizations are owing to the rampant censorship. While the said industry is already under the weather.
The ruling party`s official twitter handle took to twitter criticizing journalists who were critical of the state. The tweets in question were posted on July 16, 2019, by @PTIofficial.
https://twitter.com/PTIofficial/status/1151131210871013377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1151131210871013377&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnewscentral24x7.com%2Fpakistan-freedom-of-expression-press-censorship-imran-khan-pti%2F
https://twitter.com/SaeedShah/status/1151780911991721984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1151780911991721984&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnewscentral24x7.com%2Fpakistan-freedom-of-expression-press-censorship-imran-khan-pti%2F
This was termed as open-ended harassment by Pakistani journalists and particularly working journalists. Ramsha Jehangir in one of the stories pertaining to the same wrote in Dawn, At least four hashtags targeting journalism emerged on Twitter on Tuesday — two of the trends became top trends in Pakistan.
The targeted twitter campaign later revealed that it was an attempt to educate the masses about journalistic ethics and standards.
https://twitter.com/PTIofficial/status/1151101203897552904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1151101203897552904&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnewscentral24x7.com%2Fpakistan-freedom-of-expression-press-censorship-imran-khan-pti%2F
The PTI Official account even tweeted about how freedom of speech should not ‘hurt’ national interests or the State. Some of the tweets accused journalists of spreading partisan agendas and profiting at the same time reports News Central.
As a response to ruling party`s tweets, Reporters Without Borders condemned the tweets in question replied, In #Pakistan, pro-gvt trolls are launching a new campaign against independent journalists! Dear @PTIofficial, don't you know that identifying the leader, the party and the State is typical of totalitarian regimes? #JournalismIsNotACrime
https://twitter.com/RSF_inter/status/1151438072971759616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1151438072971759616&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnewscentral24x7.com%2Fpakistan-freedom-of-expression-press-censorship-imran-khan-pti%2F