With incidents of Pakistan restricting social media platforms, Blinken question Pak's Freedom of Press

 

Addressing a virtual roundtable, the senior US official expressed concern over "significant restrictions" on media outlets and civil society in Pakistan, while speaking on lack of accountability for attacks and disappearances against journalists in the country. He said, "We've documented some of this in our Country Reports on Human Rights practices, and we see media outlets, journalists, their families in Pakistan often subject to threats, harassment at the hands of security forces, political parties, militants, other groups."

 

Blinken further added, "Our open and honest engagement with Pakistan enables us, I think, to have an ongoing, sustained dialogue on human rights issues more broadly, and more specifically when it comes to press freedom, the rule of law, religious freedom, even as we collaborate in a number of areas where we have very clear mutual interests."