What the new report found

An Islamabad-based media watchdog has published its annual review of pressure on the press in Pakistan, covering October 2025 to August 2026. The study, titled “From Violence to Lawfare: Process as Punishment for Journalists”, was written by journalist Adnan Rehmat and Freedom Network executive director Iqbal Khattak, with technical assistance from International Media Support.

The report documents 97 attacks and other violations against journalists and media practitioners in that period, down from 142 in the previous cycle. Its authors caution against reading the decline as an improvement, pointing to roughly 10 cases a month and to the spread and seriousness of the incidents recorded across the country.

The pattern behind the numbers

The breakdown in the report lists one work-related killing, three attempted assassinations, 18 threats of murder or harm, 11 assaults, 13 legal actions and 32 threats of legal action. Taken together, the legal actions and threats of legal action account for 45 cases, or about 46 per cent of the total recorded.

Punjab accounted for the largest share, with 49 cases, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad and Balochistan. The report says digital and independent journalists were among those targeted most often.

Why the report points to lawfare

A central argument of the study is that legal and administrative processes are increasingly doing the work once done by physical intimidation. It describes investigations, repeated summonses and prolonged proceedings as capable of acting as punishment in themselves, even where no conviction follows.

In particular, the report identifies the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and its enforcement by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency as central to what it calls a legal siege on online journalism. The release was timed ahead of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, observed on 2 November.

Sources: Freedom Network (via IANS)