Pakistani journalists and press freedom advocates say the military and the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) are pressuring media outlets to quash critical coverage.

The newly elected government is, meanwhile, slashing its advertising budget, squeezing a key source of revenue for private newspapers and television stations.

Websites have been shut down, including the Urdu website of the U.S. government-funded Voice of America, after it reported on a movement critical of military operations in regions bordering Afghanistan.

Authorities are also targeting social media, asking Twitter to suspend accounts and submitting thousands of requests to Facebook to take down pages for a variety of reasons, ranging from criticism of the military to propagating hate and insulting Islam.

Asserting control

Journalist Matiullah Jan, labelled “anti-state” by the military for his criticism of the judiciary and Army, called the crackdown “a systematic attempt by the military and its intelligence agency to assert control with a façade of a democratically elected government.”

New legislation regulating print and online media has also alarmed press freedom advocates, who fear it will grant authorities even more censorship tools.

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry denies that the government is cracking down on press freedoms, saying it only acts to prevent incitement to violence.

But journalists say intelligence agents have called reporters to demand that opinion pieces be withdrawn and to quash investigative reports on allegations that the military intervened in the vote to help elect Prime Minister Imran Khan.