Online speech and its consequences in Pakistan, 2016 to present
Reports
Reports, press releases and PDFs on digital rights, human rights and internet freedom in Pakistan since 2016, from eight international and Pakistani organisations. Each one opens a page with a 400-500 word summary and a link to the full report. The list is updated every week.
6 reports
Digital Rights Foundation
This investigative analysis by the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), a Pakistani digital rights organisation, examines how the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) has been used against journalists since its amendment in January 2025. Its central argument is that PECA, introduced in…
US Commission on International Religious Freedom
This country update from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) finds that in 2025 the Pakistani government continued to commit particularly severe violations of religious freedom through its enforcement of the blasphemy law and other discriminatory rules, including the anti-Ahmadiyya…
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch's annual review of human rights in Pakistan covers the events of 2024. It finds that the government formed after the February 2024 general elections continued its predecessor's crackdown on free expression and civil society, that blasphemy-related violence against religious…
Freedom House
Freedom House's annual survey of internet freedom rates Pakistan "Not Free", with a score of 27 out of 100, unchanged from the previous edition. The 2025 report covers the period from June 1, 2024 to May 31, 2025 and, like the other…
US Department of State
The US Department of State's annual human rights report on Pakistan, prepared by its Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, covers 2023. It states that there were no significant changes in the human rights situation during the year and lists credible…
Amnesty International
Amnesty International's report (index ASA 33/5136/2016) examines how Pakistan's blasphemy laws violate human rights, both in what they say and in how they are applied, by the state and by private individuals. It concludes that the laws are broadly worded and open…
Summaries are drawn automatically from each report's own text: the sentences are the organisation's words, chosen to represent the report, not a rewording. Where an editor wrote the summary, the report's page says so. Silenced is not affiliated with any of these organisations; always read the full report before quoting it.
Silenced