- Could have waited
The PTI government’s announcement that it will form a 23-member digital media team within the federal Information Ministry is quite unnecessary, given the circumstances. Of course, the Information Ministry, or any ministry for that matter, is allowed to consolidate existing departments to create a more efficient organizational structure, which is one thing this new ‘digital media wing’ aims to achieve, but the urgency with which it is being done and the lack of details around its exact purpose will raise questions. At a time when all resources should be deployed towards fighting an out of control pandemic in the country, Rs 43 million have been earmarked for this ‘digital diplomacy’ project. A failed attempt was made last month, in a similar haphazard manner, to regulate social media in the country through a set of unrealistic and frankly ridiculous demands put towards major social media platform companies. This included, but was not limited, to them setting up offices in Pakistan and sharing personal information of users that the government demanded. One hopes that this new initiative at the Information Ministry is not an extension or a less extreme version of that digital media policy.
Pakistan’s media landscape has changed over the past two years with a host of challenges that are both financial and relating to self-censorship. As it is, conventional media has gone through a major shift globally with an increased emphasis on developing and investing in online media properties where overheads are much less. Although it is much cheaper to run such platforms, the revenue that can be generated through them so far in Pakistan does not justify shutting down newspapers or television channels that are already running. It would have been better if all stakeholders are taken on board during the formulation of policies that are bound to affect the media industry. All such exercises however need to wait until the dangerously uncertain Coronavirus spread is not under control.
