• Marriyum Aurangzeb said PEMRA Amendment Bill 2023  protects the rights of media workers.
• She said the bill differentiates between misinformation and disinformation.
• The bill envisages timely payment of salaries to media workers not later than two months.

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Amendment Bill 2023 has been prepared to protect the rights of media workers and lay the foundations of responsible media.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad on Saturday, she said the bill laid in the National Assembly was crafted after detailed consultations of eleven months with relevant stakeholders and keeping in view the best international practices.

“PEMRA Amendment Bill 2023 is the bill not of the government, this is a bill of Pakistan, people of Pakistan, media and journalists, in which the rights of journalists are protected. It includes the representation of journalistic organizations, and they are empowered to make decisions”, the minister said.

She pointed out that at present 140 channels including news and current affairs, entertainment, health, agriculture, education, and specialized subjects are operating in the country. She said this diversification in media necessitated the preparation of the bill.

The minister said that PEMRA Ordinance was promulgated in 2002 and now in 2023, the media landscape had changed and has become diverse.

“We are all going through a new era of social media where new platforms have been introduced to express opinions, all these channels are present on cyberspace and social media”, she added.

Marriyum Aurangzeb said the bill differentiates between misinformation and disinformation. She said this has been done after studying the relevant laws of various countries including that of the European Union, UK, Malaysia, India and others.

The Information Minister said it is the first time that content of children and timely payment of salaries, not later than two months, has been added to the bill’s preamble. She said it is also the first time that media stakeholders have been given representation in the PEMRA.

Marriyum said that Implementation Tribunal for Newspaper Employees existed for print media, but there was no forum to protect the rights of electronic media employees dismissed from their jobs on political grounds.

She said that all stakeholders joined hands to protect the rights of journalists and media workers. The Information Minister under the bill, the working journalists can now also lodge complaints with the Council of Complaints on any issue faced by them.