When Reality is Manufactured: AI Misinformation and the Future of Journalism in Pakistan by Saddia Mazhar
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May 15, 2025
On May 15, 2024, Pakistani journalist Zahid Hussain posted a tweet condemning the government’s internet blackout in Baluchistan, where authorities had severed connectivity for the 12th time that year to quell protests against enforced disappearances. Within hours, his account was suspended by X (formerly Twitter) under its “hate speech “policy, despite no action by Pakistani regulators. Meanwhile, state-aligned media outlets accused Hussain of “anti-national activities,” their narratives amplified by platform algorithms.
This incident epitomizes Pakistan’s triplexes of digital repression as platforms enforce opaque policies that disproportionately silence dissent. Laws like the Prevention of Electronics Crimes Act (PECA) criminalize criticism under elastic terms like “defamation” and “anti-state”. In addition, AI-driven tools automate the erasure of marginalized voices.
The outcome is a digitally enforced dystopia where journalists, ethnic minorities, and feminists navigate a minefield of algorithmic suppression, legal harassment, and physical violence. This investigation traces how Pakistan’s censorship regime evolved, its mechanisms, and the resistance fighting back.
The legal architecture of silence shows that PECA 2016 was ostensibly drafted to combat cybercrime. In practice, its amendments (notably in 2022 and 2025) transformed it into a legal noose for free expression. Likewise, Section 20 criminalizes “defamation” with up to 5 years imprisonment and non-bailable arrests, a drastic shift from civil defamation. In 2023, journalist Asad Toor was charged under this clause for reporting on state institution corruption.
We’ve also seen that Section 37 of PECA grants the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) unchecked power to block content deemed “un-Islamic “or against “national security.” Over 1.2 million URLs were censored under this provision in 2023 alone (Digital Rights Foundation). In 2025, amendments allowed warrantless arrests for social media posts and mandated VPN registration, effectively abolishing anonymity in online spaces.
In this regard, judicial complicity and occasional pushback are rare rulings, while courts often rubber-stamp PECA cases. There has been a hint at resistance that the Sindh High Court in 2024 declared the X (Twitter) ban unconstitutional, citing “disproportionate restrictions” on free speech. Also, the Islamabad High Court in 2023 criticized the FIA for misusing PECA to target journalists like Absar Alam.
Yet, such rulings are exceptions. As the Supreme Court Advocate Sh. Muhammad Faheem notes that PECA violates constitutional safeguards for free speech (Articles 19, 19-A) and due process (Article 10-A). Its amendments reflect a deliberate strategy to conflate dissent with treason.
In a lingering curse, PECA synergizes with Section 124-A of the Pakistan Penal Code (sedition), a British colonial relic used to imprison critics. In 2023, 82% of sedition cases targeted journalists and opposition figures, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
As a case study, Farooqi, a news editor at The Express Tribune, was arrested under PECA and sedition laws for tweets criticizing the state institution. Plain clothes officers dragged him from his Karachi home, and the FIR cited under section 505 (PPC) of “Public mischief” for satirizing state policies. PECA’s section 11 of “Hate speech” was also added to the mix to make Farooqi’s case stronger at trial. Though released on bail, Farooqi faced 3 years of harassment, a common tactic to drain dissenters’ resources.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) operates as the regime’s enforcer-in-chief that blocks URLs and websites in the country. In 2016, 900,000+ websites were banned, including Wikipedia (2023), for “blasphemous content”. There have also been Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) deployments of Sandvine’s technology to throttle VPNs and filter keywords like “Baluchistan” or “PTM”. Under forced localization 2021/2025, rules compel platforms to store data locally, exposing users to surveillance.
The 2023 crackdown following Imran Khan’s arrest saw authorities use geo-fencing, social media monitoring and facial recognition to identify and detain over 4,000 PTI supporters. This demonstrates how AI tools amplify traditional repression methods.
During the 2024 elections, the government suspended mobile services nationwide – a decision likely informed by data analysis of protest patterns and opposition mobilization strategies. In a corporate collusion, tech giants, prioritizing profit over principles, comply with 90% of government takedown requests according to the “Meta Transparency Report 2023”. Likewise, YouTube demonetized creators discussing blasphemy laws (Shahveer Jafry), while pro-state institution vloggers flourish. Meta also permits anti-Ahmadi hate speech (linked to violent attacks in Punjab but censors Pashtun rights pages.
Rashid Khan, (Media Solutions Pakistan) says platforms treat Pakistan as a revenue frontier, not a rights battleground. Their algorithms boost divisive content because it drives engagement. He argues that platforms prioritize profit over principles in Pakistan.
Political instability and security concerns create a situation where platform governance favors commercial interests over ethical responsibilities. Transparency around government requests and content decisions is essential.
In an automated censorship, a leaked PTA document reveals a 1,200-terms were blacklisted and fed into AI filters, including, “Enforced disappearances”, “Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM)” & “Baloch genocide”. Chinese firms like SenseTime supply facial recognition tech to identify protesters, while AI voice clones of Imran Khan (used by PTI in 2024) show the opposition’s adaptive tactics.
As for the economic toll, Pakistan lost $300M in 2023 due to internet shutdowns (Top10VPN). In a freelance exodus: 40% of Pakistan’s $1.2B freelancer economy now relies on VPNs (Karachi Chamber of Commerce).
Yousuf Abid, Editor of Lub Azaad, notes that Pakistan uses AI to automate political repression, not to combat misinformation. The dual nature of AI in Pakistani politics means that while the opposition uses it for survival, the state uses it for control. We need transparent AI governance frameworks with civil society participation and a separation of counterterrorism from political monitoring in algorithmic systems.
In grassroots movements, Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) trains women journalists in encrypted communication & Bolo Bhi litigates against PECA in courts. As a policy, solutions according to experts repealing PECA’s draconian clauses and aligning laws with Article 19 of the constitution are essential for free speech. There is a need to abolish sedition laws and there should be a requirement for judicial approval for content blocks. AI should also be regulated to prevent automated political targeting.
A battle for Pakistan’s digital soul is that Pakistan’s censorship regime, a fusion of legal brutality, corporate cowardice, and AI-driven surveillance, threatens to extinguish digital freedoms. Yet, as feminists encrypt their chats and journalists sue the PTA, resistance persists. The world must choose: Will it watch silently, or stand with those fighting for a free internet?
