24NewsHD’s airing of controversial content during a special Muharram Transmission has not escaped the watchful eye of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA). PEMRA has therefore taken action to suspend the channel’s license with ‘immediate effect’.
PEMRA attested that they had issued a notice to all the channels on 20th August, advising against airing ‘material that would harm inter-faith harmony or which was based on sectarianism and inciting hate’. However, PEMRA has claimed that 24NewsHD violated their policies by airing ‘hate content’ during a Muharram transmission without any editorial supervision.
After receiving complaints from viewers the Authority moved to suspend the channel’s license under PEMRA Ordinance 30[3]. It has given the channel a span of 2 weeks to comply with their issue of inquiry, giving the news channel a chance to state their defense of the matter at hand.
This is not the first time PEMRA has suspended 24NewsHD’s license, with a previous entanglement faced when the channel allegedly illegally changed its name from ‘Value TV’ to ’24 News HD’. This move in turn was reportedly violating PEMRA’s laws. However, Lahore High Court’s Justice Saad Mehmood, issued an order to lift the ban on 24 News, refuting PEMRA’s decision.
Although in the past, telecommunication authoritarian bodies such as PTA have been urged to lift bans on different programs, games and activities involving ‘E-Commerce’, such as the ban on PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) – which was lifted; it has shown zero tolerance for content which incites hate and grievances against any community in society, especially on significant dates.