The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) has issued show-cause notices to 27 private TV channels over defiance of PEMRA’s orders of March 3, 2017.
On the said date, PEMRA’s authority in its 126th meeting had directed these channels to air apology on March 6, 2017, between 6pm and 7pm for telecasting fake news about Gulberg Lahore bomb blast dated February 23, 2017.
However, these channels did not comply with the orders of the authority. For defying PEMRA’s order, these TV channels have been directed to submit a reply within seven days, i.e. by March 15, 2017, and explain why an appropriate legal action may not be initiated against them.
With regard to airing apology, only two TV channels Kohinoor TV and Channel-5 complied with the authority’s orders. The 27 channels which defied PEMRA’s orders and have been issued show-cause notices are as follows: ARY News, Khyber News, 92 Channel, Dunya TV, SAMAA TV, Metro One, Geo News, Awaz TV, Jaag TV, Abb Takk, Roze TV, Dawn News, Mehran TV, 7News, Lahore News, Neo TV, Capital TV, Sach TV, Sindh TV News, Express News, Din News, Waqt TV, KTN News, News One, 24 Channel, Bol News, and K-21.
In the 126th authority meeting, PEMRA had also imposed a fine of Rs1 million on each national private TV channel and Rs500,000 on each regional TV.
