Pakistan's crackdown in PoK: How Islamabad is tightening information chokehold

Pakistan has intensified its crackdown on information flow in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), drawing international condemnation. The Shehbaz Sharif government's measures, implemented during the assembly elections in the illegally occupied Valley, have been criticized by press freedom organizations and rights groups. Foreign journalists are now required to seek government permission before traveling outside Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore.

Pakistan has also ordered foreign media personnel to leave PoK immediately. Two independent journalists were detained on August 1, and others have been summoned to court under a law criminalizing false and fake information. Human Rights Watch's senior associate, Patricia Gossman, described the new restrictions as "an alarming step in the country’s narrowing space for press freedom."

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists urged the Sharif-led government to lift the bans, stating that a democracy should protect press freedom. Meanwhile, India strongly condemned Pakistan's actions, calling the local elections a "complete farce" and highlighting the ongoing violence, blackouts, and repression against civilians. The Kashmiri diaspora has also protested against Pakistan's crackdown in PoK.