Court order authorising PEMRA to censor TV content challenged

[Verve]

Norms of the society apply only on Pakistani channels?
And what part of our norms prevent us from having a quiz show before 9?
Thats just stupid pemra is going full retard and has to be stopped

Majority?Hmm same majority that watches foreign content?
I still fail to see why dance on a show is an issue when half our ads have people dancing in them?
Their laws contradict themselves

As said before, PEMRA is not working.

Foreign content should be banned fully imo. Many of current generation are influenced by foreign content, like yourself.

As for dance shows, is it an accepted norm in the society at large?

 

[Zibago]

And rightly so. Qadri was declared a murderer by SC and sent to gallows.

Qadri represents the taliban mentality that killed 70,000 of our people
Salman Taseer was an innocent man and mind you he trolled the hell out of baboons once he spread fake news that he was going to dubai when choti tind heard that he had a press conference where he gave lectures on corruption and how ppp was doing blah blah blah and Salman Taseer was enjoying vacation in Dubai, two hours later Taseer invited the media to Lahore Arts Council and on questions on his Dubai trip did kutiyan wali of baboons man he was good

My point is not if Mumtaz Qadri is a hero or a villain. But if you ask any ordinary Pakistani he will surely consider Mumtaz Qadri as a hero. But putting that aside for the moment, the fact of the matter is that on what basis did PEMRA order a blackout of Mumtaz Qadri's funeral? Is it because they know that hundreds of thousands of people were at the funeral, whereas such a great number of people will never show up at an Imran Khan rally despite his boastful claims?

You see there is a huge cultural disconnect in Pakistan between the elite media and the ordinary people. If it is shown on TV that the ordinary Pakistanis don't care about the useless politicians and the corrupt rulers but they are more passionate about attending the funeral of someone you call a "murderer" then the true weakness of the Pakistani State will have been exposed. Everyone knows that Pakistan is a banana republic.

Maybe the issue is our low literacy rate an absolite majority of people dont even know what he did Mullahs spread the lie he killed a blasphemors and sheeples believed that
Those who analyze things critically are against him

Pemra was right in ordering a blackout it cannot promote extremism of our society by showing and encouraging others but this has turned into abuses by pemra on issue of security

Wait what?I guess you never saw the crowd at D-Chok
And about the Qadri crowd they gaveup the day police confiscated their food trucks

People who are literate care about what happens in Pakistan as news channels have highest ratings in Pakistan
People who are not literate sell their votes for 500 Rs or a plate of biryani and only cry when they cant sell their crops or cant pay fee of their children

As said before, PEMRA is not working.

Foreign content should be banned fully imo. Many of current generation are influenced by foreign content, like yourself.

As for dance shows, is it an accepted norm in the society at large?

Yes it should be banned and no foreign content didnt influence me as much as living in this system did

And it wasnt a dance show it was particpant dancing in a morning show even if you pickup a movie from the 50,s you will see people dancing in them

My point is not if Mumtaz Qadri is a hero or a villain. But if you ask any ordinary Pakistani he will surely consider Mumtaz Qadri as a hero. But putting that aside for the moment, the fact of the matter is that on what basis did PEMRA order a blackout of Mumtaz Qadri's funeral? Is it because they know that hundreds of thousands of people were at the funeral, whereas such a great number of people will never show up at an Imran Khan rally despite his boastful claims?

You see there is a huge cultural disconnect in Pakistan between the elite media and the ordinary people. If it is shown on TV that the ordinary Pakistanis don't care about the useless politicians and the corrupt rulers but they are more passionate about attending the funeral of someone you call a "murderer" then the true weakness of the Pakistani State will have been exposed. Everyone knows that Pakistan is a banana republic.

You think too highly of the Pakistani public i call our awaam jahaz and useful idiots(it is what it is) who get screwed by everyone i mean this is the same public that goes to peers even when a patient is depressed
We need to educate the public and make them capable of critical thinking so they are more aware of their rights and responsibilities

 

[Verve]

@Zibago

Generation gap between us would make it difficult to reconcile. I'm from the 70's and 80's PTV and you from the 90's Miss Dish and total awara cable channels. Kids of my generation did far more mentally invigorating activities and were not bothered about TV much if at all.

I hate adverts and won't watch live TV if adverts are there. Whereas you seem to enjoy them.

I hate daytime TV, it's junk. Nothing positive.

I'm a heavy internet user because I can read and watch exactly what I want.

If something has no positive impact on me, I discard it. So I do find it difficult to understand your obsession with what I consider to be useless things.

We need to educate the public and make them capable of critical thinking so they are more aware of their rights and responsibilities

You see, what's on TV for your generation is such a major issue.

I guess asking you to switch off your TV for 2 months to try being without it (as an experiment) would equate to torture, right?

Addiction of society to TV is the curse ...

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

We can all thank to Musharaf for introducing free media , and PEMRA's main goal was to observe quality of reporting and content

Unfortunately Saudi style Zia era censor ship will be negative

 

[Zibago]

@Zibago

Generation gap between us would make it difficult to reconcile. I'm from the 70's and 80's PTV and you from the 90's Miss Dish and total awara cable channels. Kids of my generation did far more mentally invigorating activities and were not bothered about TV much if at all.

I hate adverts and won't watch live TV if adverts are there. Whereas you seem to enjoy them.

I hate daytime TV, it's junk. Nothing positive.

I'm a heavy internet user because I can read and watch exactly what I want.

If something has no positive impact on me, I discard it. So I do find it difficult to understand your obsession with what I consider to be useless things.



You see, what's on TV for your generation is such a major issue.

I guess asking you to switch off your TV for 2 months to try being without it (as an experiment) would equate to torture, right?

Addiction of society to TV is the curse ...

Agree you grew up under Islamization i grew up under Enlightened Moderation

You hate ads i actually enjoy new creative ads some ads have nice catchy jingles and really great puns

Well i am not a fan of daytime tv either they show stupid morning shows where instead of making women more productive they keep telling them methods of whitening their skins make the same couple marry again and again but i dislike it but i think they have a right to do that


Even if i dislike something unless its harming others i dont think it should be banned

Well i was tv free 4 years ago for a month when i had chicken pox i was too sick to do anything except sleep and moan

Even if its a curse i wont take away right of people to view it

We can all thank to Musharaf for introducing free media , and PEMRA's main goal was to observe quality of reporting and content

Unfortunately Saudi style Zia era censor ship will be negative

We all hope pba comes out strong in this case pemra will be the loser here Inshallah

 

[war&peace]

I think the censorship should be principled and across the board...nothing should be off-limits. Our society has moral values and we must respect them and TV-channels, both local and foreign, shouldn't be allowed to air the content that is deemed unfit for the public viewing.

I see many Pakistanis advocating against any sort of censorship without using their or their brain is located somewhere else. Even in the "open" societies of the west, there are censors and filtering, graddings and ratings. Pakistan has not come up yet with any sort of system for classifying the content as per our religious and societal norms.

The only thing that shouldn't be filtered or censor is the freedom of speech especially in politics.

 

[Zibago]

PBA moves apex court against IHC order

28-May-17
by Syed Sabeehul Hussnain



ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) on Saturday moved a petition before the Supreme Court of Pakistan, challenging the order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), where it had authorised the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to censor TV content.

On March 17, IHC Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqi had appointed a committee under PEMRA with the task to examine the content of TV shows, dramas and advertisements.

The petitioner in its appeal raised objections, arguing that the court had no power or jurisdiction under the Constitution to become a regulator of TV programmes.

"Further, the committee constituted includes the government represented through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting secretary, PEMRA represented through its chairman and DG, the Attorney General's Office through the additional attorney general and Ansar Abbasi, a journalist, thereby making it totally partial," the petition states. Barrister Syed Ali Zafar stated that PEMRA could not act as monitoring police and tell channels how to broadcast their programmes.

"By constituting the committee to determine the question of obscenity, indecency or pornography, the IHC acted contrary to the provisions of Articles 4, 9, 10A and 18 of the Constitution," the petition states.

PBA had made the federal government, the Interior Ministry, Information Ministry and PEMRA as respondents.

Thepetition pointed out that the regulatory body was bound by the Code of Conduct, 2015 under which media content was controlled by the broadcasters under a self-regulatory regime.

It further contended that for PEMRA to issue directives and regulations outside the ambit of the Code of Conduct 2015 was in contravention of the code itself, the PEMRA Ordinance and the Constitution.

"PEMRA has breached the code and issued regulations to control and censor the media against the fundamental rights of the freedom of expression, the freedom of press and the freedom of information protected under Articles 19 and 19A of the Constitution," the petition stated.

The petition submitted that it was only during the dictatorial regime of General ZiaulHaq that such "arbitrary and whimsical censorship under the garb of indecency" was imposed on the media and the issuance of these regulations by PEMRA was similar to it.

The appeal further contended that Pakistan's electronic media had fulfilled their role in ensuring that whatever was aired was in accordance with the culture of the country.

"That the matter of controlling and regulating the media and the entertainment industry, and to determine what is immoral, obscene or what does or does not conform to Islamic values etc, are all matters of policy and fall within the domain of the executive which must act in accordance with law," the petition stated."By forming a committee and asking for a report thereto, the IHC had gone beyond the realm of decision-making and started examining the contents of broadcast as if it was the executive and regulator," the petition stated.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/pakistan/2...m_campaign=postfity&utm_content=postfityaa4f5

I think the censorship should be principled and across the board...nothing should be off-limits. Our society has moral values and we must respect them and TV-channels, both local and foreign, shouldn't be allowed to air the content that is deemed unfit for the public viewing.

I see many Pakistanis advocating against any sort of censorship without using their or their brain is located somewhere else. Even in the "open" societies of the west, there are censors and filtering, graddings and ratings. Pakistan has not come up yet with any sort of system for classifying the content as per our religious and societal norms.

The only thing that shouldn't be filtered or censor is the freedom of speech especially in politics.

In west i am sure they ban channels over showing quiz shows before 9 pm and ban any display of alcohol consumption even if it is for completion of a plot and the glass only has pepsi in it
Oh and pemra also banned holding hands on tv now i dont know about you but such restrictive policies will only harm the industry in my opinion this is Zia era 2.0

 

[war&peace]

PBA moves apex court against IHC order

28-May-17
by Syed Sabeehul Hussnain



ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) on Saturday moved a petition before the Supreme Court of Pakistan, challenging the order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), where it had authorised the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to censor TV content.

On March 17, IHC Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqi had appointed a committee under PEMRA with the task to examine the content of TV shows, dramas and advertisements.

The petitioner in its appeal raised objections, arguing that the court had no power or jurisdiction under the Constitution to become a regulator of TV programmes.

"Further, the committee constituted includes the government represented through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting secretary, PEMRA represented through its chairman and DG, the Attorney General's Office through the additional attorney general and Ansar Abbasi, a journalist, thereby making it totally partial," the petition states. Barrister Syed Ali Zafar stated that PEMRA could not act as monitoring police and tell channels how to broadcast their programmes.

"By constituting the committee to determine the question of obscenity, indecency or pornography, the IHC acted contrary to the provisions of Articles 4, 9, 10A and 18 of the Constitution," the petition states.

PBA had made the federal government, the Interior Ministry, Information Ministry and PEMRA as respondents.

Thepetition pointed out that the regulatory body was bound by the Code of Conduct, 2015 under which media content was controlled by the broadcasters under a self-regulatory regime.

It further contended that for PEMRA to issue directives and regulations outside the ambit of the Code of Conduct 2015 was in contravention of the code itself, the PEMRA Ordinance and the Constitution.

"PEMRA has breached the code and issued regulations to control and censor the media against the fundamental rights of the freedom of expression, the freedom of press and the freedom of information protected under Articles 19 and 19A of the Constitution," the petition stated.

The petition submitted that it was only during the dictatorial regime of General ZiaulHaq that such "arbitrary and whimsical censorship under the garb of indecency" was imposed on the media and the issuance of these regulations by PEMRA was similar to it.

The appeal further contended that Pakistan's electronic media had fulfilled their role in ensuring that whatever was aired was in accordance with the culture of the country.

"That the matter of controlling and regulating the media and the entertainment industry, and to determine what is immoral, obscene or what does or does not conform to Islamic values etc, are all matters of policy and fall within the domain of the executive which must act in accordance with law," the petition stated."By forming a committee and asking for a report thereto, the IHC had gone beyond the realm of decision-making and started examining the contents of broadcast as if it was the executive and regulator," the petition stated.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/pakistan/2...m_campaign=postfity&utm_content=postfityaa4f5


In west i am sure they ban channels over showing quiz shows before 9 pm and ban any display of alcohol consumption even if it is for completion of a plot and the glass only has pepsi in it
Oh and pemra also banned holding hands on tv now i dont know about you but such restrictive policies will only harm the industry in my opinion this is Zia era 2.0

Well, first of all..I don't watch Pakistani media ... except a few talk shows on youtube and PDF so I'm not able to relate to what you are hinting at ..I mean which Quizz show? BTW quizz shows are normally aimed at raising the general knowledge of the people. But the picture are you portraying is different than what I have got about Pakistani TV channels through friends, family and other social media and also the rare casts I throw on them.
Revival of Pakistan film industry is a welcome thing and I'm all for it but what kind of revival are we talking about it? If our films have to copy the same crappy indian content and present it to us with a Pakistani label then sorry.. we don't need such a revival. We can rather allow high quality foreign content, censor it (if necessary), and dub it in the local languages and done in most of the non-English European countries like Spain, France, Germany etc

The role model for Pakistani film industry should have been the Iranian films industry that upholds the moral values annd ethics of its society and still its production consistently gets awarded at international fora for the quality of content & production, and the novelty of ideas.

And I should tell you that most of the airlines also censor the content. I remember that I watched a movie in 2015 onboard an Emirates flight from USA to Pakistan via Dubai and I liked it but I was recently watching again with a friend at his place and I was shocked to see how much edited and censored version was on the Emirates, so we had to skip quite a few scenes and I was feeling embarrassed for recommending it to my friend.

 

[Zibago]

Well, first of all..I don't watch Pakistani media ... except a few talk shows on youtube and PDF so I'm not able to relate to what you are hinting at ..I mean which Quizz show? BTW quizz shows are normally aimed at raising the general knowledge of the people. But the picture are you portraying is different than what I have got about Pakistani TV channels through friends, family and other social media and also the rare casts I throw on them.
Revival of Pakistan film industry is a welcome thing and I'm all for it but what kind of revival are we talking about it? If our films have to copy the same crappy indian content and present it to us with a Pakistani label then sorry.. we don't need such a revival. We can rather allow high quality foreign content, censor it (if necessary), and dub it in the local languages and done in most of the non-English European countries like Spain, France, Germany etc

The role model for Pakistani film industry should have been the Iranian films industry that upholds the moral values annd ethics of its society and still its production consistently gets awarded at international fora for the quality of content & production, and the novelty of ideas.

So in short you dont watch tv yourself and your opinion is based on heresey well the discussion isnt going to be productive at all

Really?Pakistani cinema is totally copying?Guess you didnt watch Pakistani films of the 90,s and 00,s it has always been like this only difference is quality and scripts have improved and we cant implement the Iranian model here our audience is not into that we tried with some movies like that they didnt do that well on the box officeoffice

I dont care from where content is i would prefer production inside Pakistan not import dubbed content i am not a fan of the Turkish shows in prime time i think all foreign content should be banned at prime time hours

 

[war&peace]

Generation gap between us would make it difficult to reconcile. I'm from the 70's and 80's PTV and you from the 90's Miss Dish and total awara cable channels. Kids of my generation did far more mentally invigorating activities and were not bothered about TV much if at all.

Mate, I am from 90's too so I really do not believe much in the generation gap being a universal truth. It all depends on the education, upbringing and personal traits.

So in short you dont watch tv yourself and your opinion is based on heresey well the discussion isnt going to be productive at all

Really?Pakistani cinema is totally copying?Guess you didnt watch Pakistani films of the 90,s and 00,s it has always been like this only difference is quality and scripts have improved and we cant implement the Iranian model here our audience is not into that we tried with some movies like that they didnt do that well on the box officeoffice

I dont care from where content is i would prefer production inside Pakistan not import dubbed content i am not a fan of the Turkish shows in prime time i think all foreign content should be banned at prime time hours

To have a general perception about the trends in media, one doesn't need to groovily watch each and every channel and show. Social interactions and discussion with experts can impart far more condensed and accurate overview than a person can himself acquire through watching. Also it is not that I don't watch at all. I also said that I rarelly get the opportunity to watch but whenever I do, it corroborrates what my friends and family tell me. I'm not living on the Mars.

Era/decade is no excuse, if something crappy was happening in yesteryears, does not mean we have to continue with that crap because it is an old crap... otherwise why are we struggling for change? Let PMLN and PPP run the show as usual since it is going on for decads.

It is time for change and it has to be across the board. You cannot improve the society by eliminating the financial corruption while letting the immorality become ubiquitous. We have to reset our priorities if we have been messing up with them and the failure to do so is the reason why our country keep getting plunged into a new crisis after crisis.

 

[Zibago]

To have a general perception about the trends in media, one doesn't need to groovily watch each and every channel and show

But an opinion has more value if you yourself are the observer

Social interactions and discussion with experts can impart far more condensed and accurate overview than a person can himself acquire through watching.

Absolutely but a person,s personal taste may also impact what he may see as objectionable for example experts like Orya Maqbool go nuts over women wearing trousers

Also it is not that I don't watch at all. I also said that I rarelly get the opportunity to watch but whenever I do, it corroborrates what my friends and family tell me. I'm not living on the Mars.

Normally it goes like this
Yaar ajkal media mein bohat behayayi hy aurotaon key sir sey dopata utar gaya hay
Ban lagaye hakomat isi liye zalzalay atein hain
The definition of what is acceptable and what is not varies from person to person what govt is doing is going back to Zia era censorship

Era/decade is no excuse, if something crappy was happening in yesteryears, does not mean we have to continue with that crap because it is an old crap... otherwise why are we struggling for change? Let PMLN and PPP run the show as usual since it is going on for decads.

If its crap why are people watching it?Are people being forced to watch it at gun point?Cinemas are driven by public demand you should look into box office trends to get an idea of what people want

It is time for change and it has to be across the board. You cannot improve the society by eliminating the financial corruption while letting the immorality become ubiquitous.

Define immorality i dont think holding hands or someone crying whie hugging his wife come under the definition of immorality

We have to reset our priorities if we have been messing up with them and the failure to do so is the reason why our country keep getting plunged into a new crisis after crisis.

This isnt a crisis to begin with pemra is acting like Zia and making an issue whee there is none

 

[Attock]

They banned even showing pepsi as alcohol to complete a scene thats just stupid and restrictions apply only on Pakistani channels not channels of foreign origin

So they substituted pepsi for sharaab. That is a deceipt which in itself is wrong. Secondly why do you have to show sharaab consumption. I mean why? I want to understand the reasoning behind it.

Our experimentation with severe censorship started the destruction of our cinema which btw in 60,s was the 4th biggest producer of films in the world

I really want to ask a question here. Presumably you are a Muslim so how would you reconcile yourself with being a Muslim and then advocating for obscenity.

I dont see any badkalami/badtamezi in Pakistani dramas but i do in channels of foreign origin why allow them but not Pakistanis ?Is it fair?

I think you do not watch the talk shows.

As far as foreign channels are concerned they should be regulated as well.

 

[Zibago]

So they substituted pepsi for sharaab. That is a deceipt which in itself is wrong. Secondly why do you have to show sharaab consumption. I mean why? I want to understand the reasoning behind it.

Its called acting its suppose to be fake you think they kill people for real in action movies?

I really want to ask a question here. Presumably you are a Muslim so how would you reconcile yourself with being a Muslim and then advocating for obscenity.

I havent seen anything that would be considered obscene in Pakistani dramas and as for movies we could go for rating system which you already have in the country you reside in
Its either that or allow capital to flow outside of our country i think the former option sounds better

I think you do not watch the talk shows.

You think pemra will stop baboons from being rude when pemra itself is a baboon run organization?

 

[Attock]

ts called acting its suppose to be fake you think they kill people for real in action movies?

You have partially answered my question here.

I havent seen anything that would be considered obscene in Pakistani dramas and as for movies we could go for rating system which you already have in the country you reside in

You are right Pakistani dramas are the most decent in the world. By the way how would you define obscene?

 

[Zibago]

You have partially answered my question here.

If you want to show an abusive father who drinks how do you show that?

You are right Pakistani dramas are the most decent in the world. By the way how would you define obscene?

Being direct in sexual references in family shows even if you want to discuss them use the indirect method which our media has always used i see no problem here