ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities on Saturday ordered a complete blackout of private television news channels during a police and paramilitary crackdown on protesters of religious groups in Islamabad , fearing that live coverage of the operation could trigger protests in other parts of the country.The operation began at 7am when talks between government and religious leaders had failed to end a sit-in by the religious protesters, blocking the main highway between the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi for three weeks to demand the resignation of law minister Zahid Hamid.Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) ordered the suspension of TV news channels' broadcast, stating that live coverage of a security operation was a violation of media regulations. PEMRA's spokesperson said Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had directed the regulator to suspend transmission of all private TV news channels. "Under the Electronic Media Code of Conduct 2015, live coverage of any security operation is prohibited," said a statement issued by PEMRA. "TV channels are advised to exhibit utmost sensitivity regarding the matter and refrain from live coverage," it added.According to the PM's office, he had issued the directives on the request of the Islamabad administration, which said the live coverage was compromising the operation against religious protesters.The state-run PTV continued to broadcast, airing a talk show on politics while ticker ran giving the government's version of the operation.The media blackout was followed by suspension of services of popular social networking sites - Facebook, Twitter and YouTube . This prevented millions of Pakistanis from getting information about the crackdown.Many believe the social media 'blackout' was meant to stop users from posting and sharing images and views about the crackdown.Complaints of inaccessibility started pouring in on Twitter mid-afternoon on Saturday, with internet users saying that social media blackout was restricting people from their right to information.

Source: Times of India November 25, 2017 17:15 UTC