Pakistan expands media restrictions, bans Al Jazeera site, and lifts VPN limits amid new guidelines.

In April 2026 foreign journalists in Pakistan were allowed to travel freely inside Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi with no paperwork, but outside those cities they now must obtain a No Objection Certificate from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Fixers, freelancers, translators and camera operators must register on a government portal. Al Jazeera’s website has been inaccessible from Karachi since last Sunday. Two browsers and a mobile data connection could not load the page. No formal order has been published, and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has confirmed nothing. The ministry said it had noted Al Jazeera’s “selective reporting” and that the channel had “misrepresented” election results in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The statement called the coverage “yellow journalism” that supports the agenda of external actors with vested interests. The BBC issued a statement on Wednesday saying it was “extremely concerned” about the restrictions. The British broadcaster said it reaches about 8.6 million people in Pakistan each week and that its journalists, including local staff, must be able to move through the country. Earlier, in 2013, Al Jazeera was blocked after publishing the Abbottabad Commission report. That ban was later lifted, but no single action reduced the state’s perceived effort to conceal information. The government introduced the Foreign Media Facilitation Guidelines in 2026. The guidelines establish permanent registration requirements and no‑objection certificates for foreign media representatives, replacing earlier temporary measures. In February 2024 X was blocked after being used to raise alleged election fraud claims. It returned 15 months later. VPN use in Pakistan reportedly rose 6,000 per cent, and the country recorded the highest financial losses worldwide from internet restrictions that year.