Shafaqna Pakistan | by Arsal Mir- UNESCO’s Media Development Report 2022–2025 released on Monday (15 Dec 2025) paints a troubling picture of the global state of freedom of expression. According to the report, freedom of expression has declined by nearly 10% over the past decade. This erosion has taken place against a backdrop of falling public trust, increasing political and social polarisation; and the gradual weakening of parliaments and judicial institutions. These structural shifts have created an environment in which open debate is harder to sustain and dissenting voices are more easily marginalised.
Running parallel to this democratic backsliding has been the rapid rise of major technology companies and social media platforms. While these platforms have dramatically expanded access to information, they have also created fertile ground for hate speech, misinformation and manipulation. The emergence of generative artificial intelligence has only accelerated this trend, making it easier and faster to produce misleading or harmful content at scale.
Taken together, these developments have produced a paradoxical reality: it feels as though there are more restrictions than ever on what can be said publicly, yet at the same time it has never been easier for anonymous users to spread extreme or false views with little accountability.
Caught squarely in the middle of this contradiction are journalists. Unlike anonymous online actors, journalists are highly visible and therefore more vulnerable to state pressure, legal harassment and physical threats. At the same time, they are being squeezed by a transformed information ecosystem in which anyone with an internet connection can broadcast content globally, regardless of accuracy, ethics or intent. As professional journalism loses both protection and public trust, its ability to function as a check on power continues to erode.
Unsurprisingly, the UNESCO’s report presents grim findings on the state of journalism worldwide. During the reporting period, 186 journalists were killed while covering wars and conflicts, with 93 deaths recorded in just the past year. These killings often occur in contexts where governments or armed actors do not want the world to witness the realities of war.
Equally alarming is the persistence of impunity: In 2024, 85% of crimes against journalists went unpunished. Media self-censorship has also worsened by nearly 60%, reflecting the growing risks associated with telling uncomfortable truths.
Pakistan is no stranger to these trends. Between November 2024 and September 2025, there were at least 30 instances of legal action against journalists, along with 15 arrests or detentions. Under such circumstances, self-censorship becomes a rational survival strategy rather than a professional failing. More worrying still is the expanding scope of those seeking to restrict freedom of expression in the country.
Recently, the government warned social media platforms to comply with regulatory demands or face consequences similar to Brazil’s model, including blocking and financial penalties. There are also indications that the already controversial Peca Act may be further strengthened, allowing authorities to target service providers that fail to comply with content removal or blocking orders.
On the surface, these measures are often justified as necessary steps to combat misinformation and hateful content online, problems that undeniably exist. Yet if tighter controls were truly effective, it is worth asking why journalism and credible content creation have only become more difficult as national and global restrictions have intensified.
The reality is that regulating online content is an extraordinarily complex task. Digital tools, anonymity and weak cross-border accountability make it almost impossible to consistently penalise the worst offenders, while legitimate voices are far easier to identify and silence.
This is no longer just a freedom-of-expression issue; it is also an economic one. More than 1,000 Pakistani YouTube channels have surpassed one million subscribers, with around 60 per cent of their viewership coming from overseas. This signals that digital content is rapidly becoming a valuable export for the country. Crucially, the creators producing credible, high-quality content are vastly different from those spreading misinformation or hate. Blanket restrictions and heavy-handed regulation risk harming the former while doing little to deter the latter.
If the current trajectory continues, the state may find itself undermining trust in honest journalism and responsible content creation, while inadvertently pushing audiences toward precisely the kind of unregulated and unreliable sources it seeks to control. Rather than restoring confidence in information, such an approach risks deepening cynicism, weakening professional media, and accelerating the very chaos it claims to address.
Source: Shafaqna Pakistan
Note: Shafaqna do not endorse the views expressed in the article